FREMONT, NEB. – Brett Humpal (Sr.-Decorah, Iowa) scored 21 points and Jared Callanan (Jr.-Bennington, Vt.) came off the bench for 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting as Iowa Wesleyan College held on for a 70-66 win over Midland Lutheran College Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers led by 16 points at halftime but had to fight back after the Warriors took the lead late. The win gave IWC a 1-2 record on its three-day trip through Nebraska and improved the Tigers to 3-2 on the season.
IWC took a 40-24 lead at halftime after finishing the half on a 28-5 run over the final 11 minutes. Callanan, who had scored five points over the Tigers’ first four games, heated up and had 13 points during the run, including four three-pointers. Wesleyan led by as many as 17 points late in the half at 40-23 after a Da’kari Shelby (Sr.-O’Fallon, Ill.) free throw.
The Tigers maintained their lead for the first part of the second half before Midland Lutheran made its move. The Warriors finished a 17-3 run over a 3 ½ minute span to take a 61-60 lead with 6:57 left, hitting seven straight shots at one point.
Midland Lutheran (1-5) still led by two until Shelby hit a jumper with 1:40 left to tie it at 66 all. Humpal hit two free throws with 1:01 left to put IWC ahead, and the Warriors then missed two free throws with 48 seconds left. The Tigers put the game away on their next possession when Patrick Macki (Jr.-London, England) hit a jumper as the shot clock expired to put Wesleyan ahead by four.
IWC held the Warriors without a field goal for the final 4:47 of the game. The Tigers shot 44.9% (22-of-49) and hit 11 of 25 three-pointers, led by Callanan with 5-of-6 shooting on threes. Midland Lutheran shot 37.3% (19-of-51), including just 6 for 24 in the first half.
Shelby added to Humpal and Callanan’s scoring with 13 points and led IWC with 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The win for the Tigers came a day after an 84-75 loss to Dana (Neb.) College in Blair, Neb despite Keenan Stanbridge (Jr.-Quincy, Ill.) scoring 26 points. Stanbridge tied an IWC school record with eight three-pointers made and the Tigers shot 49.2% (29 for 59), but Dana finished the game on a 17-8 run for the win.
The Tigers now return home for a game Tuesday against Culver-Stockton (Mo.) College at 7:30 p.m. at Ruble Arena. IWC defeated the Wildcats just over a week ago in overtime in the teams’ first meeting this year. Wesleyan also will be home this coming weekend for its annual Kiwanis Classic with games Friday and Saturday.
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.
