March 29, 2024

Division I Iowa Western clips rated Spartans

COUNCIL BLUFFS — Southwestern’s nationally-ranked men’s basketball team closed the 2014 portion of its schedule with a loss, but it wasn’t necessarily a negative outcome, according to coach Todd Lorensen.

Division I Iowa Western held off the Spartans, 86-79 in a contest that was still a one-possession margin with 30 seconds left. The Reivers (11-4) have won eight games in a row, including a recent 82-76 win against top Iowa Division II contender Kirkwood.

With forward Josh Kirk sidelined by a foot injury, and 6-7 center Jok Kut still out with a shoulder injury, Lorensen thought his team had a good showing against a quality opponent on the road.

“I didn’t think we played our best, but we kept hanging around and made a couple of nice runs to make it interesting,” Lorensen said. “They have a nice team, as they always do, and our guys were competing at that level of competition.”

Former Nodaway Valley all-stater TJ Bower hit a 3-pointer to bring Southwestern within 11-7 of the Reivers with 15:26 left in the first half. It was 20-15 at the 10:42 mark of the opening stanza.

After being down nine early, Josh Tolbert connected from behind the arc to bring Southwestern within 28-26 with 4:57 left. At that point, Iowa Western’s Tnik Bol, a 6-7 post player from Omaha Benson, already had six blocks.

An Andre Wallace 3-pointer at the horn sent Iowa Western into halftime with a 43-34 lead over the Division II No. 11 Spartans, now 12-3. Midway through, Bol already had 10 points, nine rebounds and six blocks.

Deshawn Munson’s three-point play gave the Reivers a 75-62 lead with 7:30 left in the game.

Southwestern again battled back into contention, trailing 79-73 with the ball with 1:38 left. Bower’s three-point play then shaved it to three at 79-76 with 1:32 remaining.

Wallace then hit a 3-pointer for Iowa Western and SWCC’s Simon Joseph sank one free throw, making it 82-77 with 52 seconds left. Two more free throws made it 84-77 at 23 seconds, and time ran out on another comeback bid.

Sophomore center Mataika Koyamainavure had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Spartans. Simon Joseph grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.

Bower finished with 16 points, including three 3-pointers. Ahmad Newsome and Jaylon Smith each tallied 13 points.

Lorensen is encouraged about his team’s ability to be a top contender in ICCAC Division II league play after the break.

“We put ourselves in great position to have a really good year,” Lorensen said. “But we have to keep in mind our goal is to win three games in March to go to the national tournament, so we’ll be looking to get better throughout the season.”

The next game is 3 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7 at home against Pure Prep Academy of Des Moines. The first-year academy for high school graduates working to prepare for college basketball is coached by Lorensen’s former Grand View teammate, Tony Bell.

“A majority of them are freshman in college age,” Lorensen said. “Either they didn’t get the offer they wanted, or their academics were not quite ready. This gives them a year to improve their game and get their test scores to qualify for Division I. One of our players, Ahmad Newsome, went to an academy like that last year and still has his four years of eligibility.”

Lorensen expects the team to be at 100 percent from a health standpoint when play resumes in January.

SWCC (79) — Ahmad Newsome 4-7 5-6 13, Jaylon Smith 5-22 2-4 13, Mataika Koyamainavure 8-16 6-11 22, TJ Bower 5-13 3-3 16, Simon Joseph 4-7 1-4 9, Josh Tolbert 1-5 0-0 3, Marquise Tarbrough 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Mason 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 28-72 17-28 79.

IWCC — Matt Donlan 9-17 2-2 22, Deshawn Munson 11-14 3-8 25, Thik Bol 6-9 1-1 13, Andre Wallace 4-12 0-1 12, DJ Evans 1-5 0-0 2, Donovan Jackson 1-8 0-0 2, Hunter Posey 0-0 0-0 0, Raheem Tyner 2-4 6-9 10, James Wanjara 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 34-69 12-21 86.

3-point goals: SWCC 6-27 (Bower 3-9, Mason 1-2, Tolbert 1-4, Smith 1-11, Newsome 0-1), IWCC 6-23 (Wallace 4-9, Donlan 2-6, Evans 0-3, Jackson 0-5). Total fouls: SWCC 21, IWCC 24. Fouled out: Donlan, Bol. Technical fouls: none. Rebounds: SWCC 38 (Joseph 11), IWCC 48 (Donlan 13, Tyner 13). Assists: SWCC 7 (Newsome 3), IWCC 12 (Munson 6). Steals: SWCC 4 (Smith 2), IWCC 1 (Posey). Turnovers: SWCC 8, IWCC 12.

SWCC — 34 79
IWCC — 43 86