MOUNT PLEASANT – Lucas Dahl dominated inside with 25 points and 14 rebounds and Central Methodist (Mo.) University defeated Iowa Wesleyan College 78-62 in the final game of the Tigers’ Kiwanis Classic Saturday at Ruble Arena.
The Eagles finished as the only team with a 2-0 record in the tourney, running out to an early lead and then rebuilding the margin after IWC made a run at the end of the first half. CMU improved to 5-2 this year, while the Tigers dropped to 3-5.
Central Methodist never trailed in the game and opened up an 18-point lead in the first half, going ahead 34-16 with 4:10 left in the half. Wesleyan caught fire, though, and went on a 17-3 run to close the half, including a three-pointer by Gary Rademaker (Jr.-Emden, Ill.) just before the buzzer that left CMU with just a 37-35 lead at the break.
The Eagles would let IWC get no closer in the second half. Central Methodist pushed out to a double-digit lead when Jake Clark scored a three-point play to make it 53-42 with 12:42 left in the game. Jared Callanan (Sr.-Bennington, Vt.) hit one of his five three-pointers to briefly cut the deficit to eight points, but CMU scored the next five points and never led by less than 11 points the rest of the way. Dahl had 17 of his 25 points in the second half and also added three assists, three blocks and two steals in the game on his way to being named to the all-tournament team.
Matt Sherman added 14 points for Central Methodist and was named the tourney MVP with a total of 32 points over the Eagles’ two games. Callanan led IWC with 17 points, Rademaker had 13 and Weldon Miller (Jr.-San Rafael, Calif.) added 12 points and seven rebounds and was also named to the all-tournament team. The Tigers shot 45.5%, making 25 of 55 shots, but were out-rebounded 40-27 and made just 3 of 10 free throws. The Eagles also shot 52.5% for the game (31-for-59), including 57.1% in the second half.
In Saturday’s first game Mount Mercy defeated Logan (Mo.) College of Chiropractic 115-39. The Mustangs hit 58.4% of their shots to defeat a Trojans team that featured just six players after a flu bug decimated the team’s roster this week.
Keith Kuenstling had 26 points for Mount Mercy, while Brock Martin led Logan with 20 points. Both were named to the all-tournament team along with James Henderson of Mount Mercy.
IWC is now 12-6 all-time in the Kiwanis Classic. The Tigers are now off until the day after Thanksgiving when they host Jamestown (N.D.) College. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and the matchup will follow the IWC women’s home opener at 5:30 p.m. against Jamestown.
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score CMU 78 IWC 62
Box score MMC 115 Logan 39
Tournament Summary
