Reivers Win Iowa Western Classic in Closing Seconds

Council Bluffs, IA -- With Iowa Western's 76-62 win over Minnesota Prepatory Academy, and Johnson County's 88-83 overtime victory over Sunrise Christian Academy on Friday (12/6) evening; the Saturday (12/7) evening tilt between the 11-1 Cavaliers and Reivers was the "defacto championship game" of the Iowa Western Classic. After a hard fought contest with both teams showing great competitive and spirited effort; the homestanding team came away with a 73-72 win.

Both teams turned the first 10 minutes of regulation into a defensive stalemate, with both teams trading several short lead changes.  Tied at 13 midway through the first half, the Cavalier defense tightened up even more, as the visitors went on a 10-0 run before the Reivers could get off the "unlucky 13" mark.  Following a few more trips, Johnson County gained it's largest lead of the evening with a little more then 8 minutes left in the half at 30-15. Following a timeout the Reivers began to serge back into the contest with a full court press that troubled the visiting team from Overland Park, KS. In the most pivotal portion of the contest; the Reivers closed the half on a 13-2 run and trailed only 32-28 at intermission.

Following the halftime break both teams continued to chip away at one another. The Reivers finally gained a lead on a Josiah Strong three point field goal with 4:25 to go, but Johnson County regained the lead moments later. In the game's final moments, there were 3 ties and 3 lead changes; the last coming on a Seneca Louis' freethrow for the Reivers with 10.2 seconds remaining.  The Cavaliers had one more possession and after a driving miss and lost offensive rebound turnover, the Reivers earned a hard fought victory; handing Johnson County only it's 2nd loss in their 13 contests, by the smallest of margins 73-72.

The win, Iowa Western's third straight, gave the Reivers a 2-0 record for the weekend followed by: Johnson County 1-1, Sunrise Christian 1-1, and Minnesota Prep 0-2 in the 2019 Iowa Western Classic.

Caleb Huffman led the Reivers in both points (21) and rebounds (5). Josiah Strong returned from his injury to add 16 points and a team high 4 assists, while Kaleb Thornton (13pts) and Damontrez Ruffin (11pts) rounded out the double figure scoring for Iowa Western. Johnson County's JaQuaylon Mays led all scorers in the contest with 23 points.

Up next for Iowa Western is the final game of the recent 6 game homestand, as the Reivers will face off against the 10-2 Storm of Southeast (NE) this Tuesday (12/10) evening at 6:00pm from Reiver Arena.