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Box Score)
A quick, impressive start turned into a sour defeat as Webster dropped its season opener Friday to Nebraska Wesleyan, 69-60, at Grant Gymnasium.
The Gorloks converting seven of their first 10 shots, including four three-pointers - three from senior
Ryan Turk to open up a 13-point lead just seven minutes into the game. However, WU failed to make a basket for nearly 10 of the final 20 minutes in faltering down the stretch.
"A lot of times making your shots early could be the worst thing for you," said head coach Chris Bunch. "I thought we settled for some quick shots midway through the first half, and allowed them to get back into the game."
As quick as Webster built to double-figure lead, the Prairie Wolves had it evaporate on the strength of a 17-3 run. The deciding factor in the NWU spurt was the ability to pound the ball inside for lay-ups or trips to the foul line. The Prairie Wolves dominated the battle in the paint, outscoring Webster, 30-16, and made more free throws (25), than the Gorloks attempted (17).
Turk led the way with 14 points and six rebounds, while senior
Luke Niebrugge added 11 points and four rebounds.
Webster (0-1) will return to the hardwood 3 p.m. Saturday with a non-conference game against the University of the Ozarks.
NOTES
- The entire Webster starting frontcourt (Nick Jones, Robby Meeh and Kevin Miller) was outscored by NWU center, Dylan Aylward, 21-9. The trio combined for zero collegiate starts heading into today's game.
- Nebraska Wesleyan only made two three-pointers for the entire game.
- In the final 10:02, the Gorloks' only basket came from Scott Restoff with eight seconds left in the game. The other 10 points came courtesy of the free-throw line.
- Senior Steve Hrdlicka came off the bench for nine points, while the remainder of the reserves amassed 17 total points.
QUOTES
Head Coach Chris Bunch
on Ryan Turk,
"Teams are going to defend him hard. They use big guards and get physical with him. When things are going well for us, he tends - not a selfish thing but an attempt to get us going - to take a couple of bad shots. I can't wholly fault him. He will make a lot of the shots he took tonight."
on his frontcourt
"We got to play better. They worked hard. For Nick (Jones) and Kevin (Miller) it could have been a case of first game jitters. You hope after one rotation that they would play better. Maybe tomorrow."
on what changed from the opening moments
"I won't know that until I look at tape. It will be a good film study tonight. They were running double screens on the baseline and getting the ball on the inside. We had trouble getting stops. They were getting shots from 10-foot in and we were taking a lot of jump shots."
