Janice Timmerman | Staff Writer
On Saturday, Feb. 20, the Beaver Men’s basketball team beat the Kohawks 100-84. Along with the Beaver victory, Wartburg beat Luther in order for Buena Vista University (BVU) to get the last open seed in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) tournament.
The team came out with one of the best games of the season and really worked well together. With three key players having some career bests, it helped carry the Beavers to the win.
Senior guard Nick Clark led the game with 33 points. Clarks game also put him at 78 three-pointers this season, just four baskets away from the BVU single-season record of 82 three-pointers. Sophomore Thomas Wisecup added 20 points to the Beavers score, followed by Junior center Kennedy Drey who posted his fourth double-double in the past six games with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Coach Van Haaften reflected on Saturday’s performance and what he hopes is yet to come this week in the tournament.
“We had a game we had to win on Saturday, just to get into the tournament. We played one of our better games of the year, so we are hoping it continues. All the teams are roughly even, we just need to be ready to play,” Van Haaften said.
Taking it one moment at a time the Beavers will prepare for Simpson. Clark spent time to reflect on the year leading up to this point.
“All year long we have talked about being in this position and making a run,” Clark said. “I think we are ready to go.”
Both Clark and Van Haaften, as well as the rest of the team are looking forward to a successful week. The Beavers will be at Simpson on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at with a 7:00pm tip-off for first round of the IIAC Tournament.
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The Lady Beavers started the season with a predicted 7th place finish in the IIAC, and all season they have fought their way to land themselves at the 4th seed going into the IIAC Tournament.
The Beavers fell to the Kohawks on Saturday 92-78. Despite the setback, senior guard Lacey Vokt is so proud of her team.
“I’m proud of my team for accomplishing that, but we aren’t done yet. It’s finally tournament time. There is a lot riding on this game and it could possibly be the last for us 5 seniors but we don’t want to think about that. We need to focus on beating Simpson and moving on to the next game.”
At this point in the season the Beavers should be well rehearsed and ready to fight on every possession to accomplish the best possible outcome.
Rebounding has been a key stat this year and will play a major role in Tuesday’s game.
Head coach Janet Berry is very proud and happy of where the team has gotten themselves in order to host first round of the tournament. She discussed the chemistry on the team.
“Our team depth and team chemistry will be an asset to the team during Tuesday night’s competition. Our women believe in each other and we have a lot of people that can contribute,” Berry said.
The Beavers host Simpson on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7:00pm inside Siebens Fieldhouse. Come out and cheer on the Beavers!
Photo by Kyle Wiebers
