CANTON, MO. – Iowa Wesleyan College got double-doubles from both Brett Humpal (Sr.-Decorah, Iowa) and Da’kari Shelby (Sr.-O’Fallon, Ill.) and fought off a pesky Culver-Stockton College team for a 79-74 overtime win Saturday in a non-conference men’s basketball game.
Humpal had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Shelby added 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Tigers came back in overtime to defeat the Wildcats after Culver-Stockton hit a three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime. The Tigers picked up their second win in three days and are 2-0 to start the season, while CSC dropped to 0-2.
The teams were tied at the end of both the first and second halves, with nine ties and nine lead changes in the first 40 minutes of play. IWC led by as many as seven points late in the first half, while Culver-Stockton led for a good portion of the second half until Keenan Stanbridge (Jr.-Quincy, Ill.) hit a three-pointer with 4:49 left in regulation for a 63-61 lead.
Both teams would go dry down the stretch, and Stanbridge’s basket was the Tigers’ last field goal of regulation. In fact, Shelby’s free throw with 3:10 left was the only point in that stretch until Phil Peugh hit a three-point basket with three seconds left to tie the game at 64-64 and force overtime.
IWC never trailed in overtime, as Humpal hit a three-pointer on the team’s first possession. Wesleyan built its lead to as much as 75-67 with 1:05 left and made all four field goals and six of eight foul shots in the extra session.
IWC out-rebounded the Wildcats 49-33, shaking off a poor rebounding performance in its opener against Hannibal-LaGrange to win the battle on the boards. The Tigers also made ten more trips to the free throw line than CSC and cashed in by making 20 of 29 free throws (69.0%) while Culver hit 11 of 19 attempts (57.9%).
Stanbridge joined Humpal and Shelby in double figures with 10 points, while Patrick Macki (Jr.-London, England) added seven points off the bench. Humpal led the team with five assists and made 10 of 21 field goal attempts while playing all 45 minutes.
Brice Fantazia led Culver-Stockton with 20 points, while Peugh added 19. The Tigers and Wildcats both had similar shooting performances, with IWC making 26 of 65 shots (40.0%) while CSC hit 26 of 60 field goals (43.3%).
The Tigers next will travel to Nebraska for games next Friday, Saturday and Sunday, starting with a game against Doane College Friday at 7 p.m. in Crete, Neb.
For more information regarding the IWC men’s basketball program 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.
