The University of Sioux Falls' lone senior Skyler Bloch, put up 22 points to help the Cougars pullout a close 72-67 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan University in their home opener Saturday at the Stewart Center.
The two teams kept it close in the first half, where fans would see a total of five ties and five lead changes. Sass Karame's jumper with 5:58 left in the half gave NWU a 29-27 lead. Their lead wouldn't last long as Bloch responded with a quick layup that sparked a Cougar 13-2 scoring run to give USF a 40-31 lead at the break.
NWU quietly chipped away at USF's lead in the second half and actually reclaimed the lead following free throws makes from Eric Jackson and Trent Scheitel with just under two minutes left in the game.
USF went back to Bloch and he took over from there, scoring a on a post move in the paint and then finding Keaton Moffit cutting to the basket for a score to go up three points with 46 ticks remaining.
Tim Schweitzer cut the Cougars' lead down to one, but efficient shooting from Derek Brown and Alex Robey at the line secured a 72-67 win.
Bloch finished with a game high 22 points and eight rebounds. He also shot 6-6 from the free throw line. Trevor Johnson was the top man for NWU. He went 4-4 from the field to score 14 points. Derek Brown tallied 15 points for the Cougars, including two huge free throw in the final 20 seconds of the game.
Second chance points and free throws proved to be the key to USF's win. They held a 16-8 advantage in second chance points over NWU and shot 100% as a team from the charity stripe (16-16).
USF returns to action tomorrow when they travel to St. Cloud, Minn. to take on St. Cloud State University at 4:00p.m.
