Reivers Hold Off Spartan Rally, Top Conference Foe at Home

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA

If one thing has been evident through the first two games of the Reiver Men's Basketball season, this team likes offense.

Averaging 97 points per game, the Reivers welcomed Southwestern to town Wednesday night.

IWCC built a 15-point halftime advantage behind ten three-point buckets, four of them by Marcedus Leech, Jr. as the team led 48-33 at the break and appeared headed for their season average.

Coach Chad Van Riessen's squad had 12 assists on 17 made baskets and every player scored in the first half including Majesty Johnson who saw his first points as a Reiver on 2-2 shooting in the opening half.

"I really liked how we moved and shared the ball offensively while attacking their defense", said Van Riessen about the first-half effort.  

The red-hot shooting would cool in the second half as shooting totals, 56.7% from the floor and 62.5% from three in the first, dropped back to pedestrian levels as Southwestern attempted all half to rally.

More Iowa Western turnovers led to fewer shot attempts and the Spartans (1-2, 1-1) made a dent, but ultimately fell short as the Reivers (2-1, 2-1) held serve, 78-73, on their home court.

Van Riessen, disappointed by the second half scoring output, was pleased overall, "Our guys did a great job of focusing in on the details of what would make us successful in tonight's game."

Leech finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-14 shooting (7-10 from three) and collected seven rebounds, while Elijah Pickens was the only other Reiver to hit double figures with 13.  Dewayne Vass, last week's NJCAA Player of the Week, was held to just six points in his starting debut.  He averaged 28 coming off the bench in the first two contests.  

Kelvin Balfour led the team in rebounding with eight and Karl Jones matched Leech's seven boards as IWCC won the rebound battle, 36-28 over the Spartans.

The Reivers will welcome the Eagles of Kirkwood on Saturday afternoon, both teams are 2-1 on the season.  The Reiver Sports Network will have live video of the game https://goreivers.com/information/reiver-sports-network, with live stats available https://goreivers.com/sports/mbkb/2020-21/boxscores/20210130_2vgu.xml or follow the game from the video board feed with highlights from the game by downloading the ScoreVision Fan App on any mobile device.

Follow the team on Twitter https://twitter.com/ReiverMBB or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/reivermbb/