[Men's Basketball] Bees get big bounce-back win over Iowa Wesleyan
After dropping their previous two contests, the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees found a great spot to bounce back Thursday night against Iowa Wesleyan.
The Bees took on the Iowa Wesleyan two weeks ago, picking up the 68-61 win in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. The Tigers returned the trip on Thursday and the Bees had a game plan ready.
Similar to their first matchup, the Fighting Bees utilized a balanced attack to take down the Tigers. Four Bees finished in double figures Thursday night: Will Spriggs dropped in 18, Tom Kazanecki scored 17, Patrick Torrey filled in 10, and Grant Mason came off the bench to lead the Bees' scoring attack with 20, going 3-for-4 from deep and 8-of-11 from the floor.
Iowa Wesleyan (11-17) hung tough in the first half, keeping the game tied or within one or two possessions for the entirety of the frame. Spriggs knocked down a three with 30 seconds left in the half to push the lead to four, but the Tigers were able to hit a three of their own to cut the lead to one at the break.
The second half is where the Bees took off, outscoring the Tigers 46-35 in the final 20 minutes. St. Ambrose shot over 50-percent from the floor and 41-percent from deep, led by freshman guard Mason who scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half.
After the Bees built a comfortable 16-point lead at 65-49, the Tigers pieced together an 11-0 run to cut the lead to five. Mason drove for a tough finish at the rim and then knocked down a deep three on the next possession to regain the momentum. After the Tigers missed a three, Ben Schols collected the rebound and kicked it up to Kazanecki for a breakaway dunk that put the finishing touches on the game.
Spriggs and Schols both knocked down their free throws in the final minute of the game to seal it at 78-66.
The win improves the Bees to 12-14 overall and marks head coach Ray Shovlain's 700th career victory. He is the 63rd men's basketball coach to accomplish the feat and only the seventh to get all 700 wins with one school.
St. Ambrose will return to CCAC action on Saturday with a home matchup against Holy Cross.