MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa - Webster University Men's Basketball shot a season high 55 percent from the field here Saturday afternoon en route to posting a 66-52 win over Iowa Wesleyan at Ruble Arena on the Iowa Wesleyan campus.

With the win, Webster improves to 6-2 on the season and 2-0 in the SLIAC, while Iowa Wesleyan fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the league. It marks the seventh time in the last eight seasons that Webster has opened league play with a 2-0 record. 

In Saturday's win, the Gorloks shot 50 percent or better in both halves as they made 15 of its 30 shots in the opening half and then shot 63 percent (12-for-19) from the field in the second half. 

While its offense shot a season high from the floor, Webster's defense played one of the best games of the season as they held the Tigers to 33 percent shooting from the field and limited them to just 52 points as they came into the game averaging 72.2 points per game. The 52 points are the fewest allowed by the Gorloks this season and the fewest allowed in a game since holding Millikin to 54 points in a 69-54 win on Dec. 7, 2016. 

Webster's offense was paced by 16 points apiece from junior guard Josh Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Clayton) and junior forward Enrique Tankins (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland). Tankins added 10 rebounds for his team leading third double-double of the season. 

In addition to Johnson and Tankins, sophomore forward Nigel Wilcox (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) added 12 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the year and sophomore forward Rodson Etienne (West Palm Beach, Fla./Royal Palm Beach) had 11 points in the win. Combined, Johnson, Tankins, Wilkins and Etienne combined for 55 of Webster's 66 points. 

The Gorloks, who snapped a four-game losing skid at Iowa Wesleyan with Saturday's win, jumped out to a 5-0 lead less than two minutes into the contest and led 15-8 just nine minutes into the game. IWU, though, would respond with a 5-0 run to pull within two at 15-13 with 8:43 left in the first half. 

Webster answered with a 17-9 run over the next seven-plus minutes to push out to a 32-22 lead. The run began with a basket by Etienne and was capped by a 3-pointer from freshman guard Kevin Anders (Riveria Beach, Fla./Inlet Grove). IWU's Cameron Mack would score five of the half's final seven points to cut WU's lead to 34-27 at the half. 

The Tigers, who were paced offensively by 12 points off the bench from both Mack and Alberto Torres, opened the second half with lay-up by Austin Rebel to push within five at 34-29, but that would be as close as IWU would get as the Gorloks answered Rebel's lay-up with an 8-0 run to take a 42-29 lead. The run was keyed by four straight points from Tankins and capped by a basket from Etienne. 

Webster's lead would remain in double digits until IWU used a 6-2 run to turn a 48-36 deficit into a 50-42 deficit with 9:44 left in the game. Once again, WU used a 7-2 run to push out to a 57-45 lead following a trey from Johnson. The trey was one of only three hit by the Gorloks in the game. 

After Torres' drilled his fourth trey of the game to pull the Tigers within 57-48 with 5:28 left in the game, the Gorloks would put the game out of reach thanks to a 7-0 run that was keyed by four made free throws from Johnson. 

The teams would combine to each score four points apiece over the final 50 seconds of the game to cap the scoring and set WU's 14 point victory margin.

IWU's third double-digit scorer was Rebel as he finished with 10 points and six boards. Rebel entered the game averaging a double-double of 16.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game on the season. 

The Gorloks held a 36-24 edge on the boards and forced the Tigers into 14 turnovers that led to 10 points. Webster committed 11 turnovers in the win. 

Webster also recorded three blocks to extend its streak of games with a blocked shot to 29. 

The Gorloks will step out of SLIAC play this coming Tuesday, Dec. 4 as they travel play a 7:30 p.m. game at Missouri Baptist. The Missouri Baptist game will be Webster's final non-conference game of the season.