WAVERLY - Wartburg men's basketball fell 85-69 to No. 6-ranked Nebraska Wesleyan University during an American Rivers Conference contest Saturday afternoon. 

The Knights drop to 0-3 in the A-R-C and 3-7 overall while NWU improves to 10-1 and 3-0 in the league. 

In the first half, Nebraska Wesleyan shot efficiently at 66.7 percent including a 7-of-15 mark from long distance. 

Four minutes into the game, the Prairie Wolves claimed a 12-4 lead, but the Knights responded and eventually trimmed the lead to 26-22 with a Max Smith Drahos three-pointer near the midway point of the first period. Leading scorers Nate Schimonitz and Clay Reimers led with 13 points each, with a Reimers three-point field goal giving the visitors its largest lead of the half at 17 with just under a minute remaining. NWU took a 48-32 into the locker room. 

Wartburg played strong in the second half despite being unable to break the Nebraska Wesleyan double-digit advantage as the point total read 37-37 in the final 20 minutes. Schimonitz recorded a game-high 29 points, shooting 11-16 from the field. Reimers was also a perfect 5-5 from the field and 3-3 from three-point range. 

Four Knights scored in double figures, led by a career-high 13 points from junior Broden Coulter, off the bench. 

Up Next
Wartburg closes out the calendar year heading to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to compete in the Cruzin' Classic Dec. 21-22, set to face Concordia University Wisconsin and SUNY New Paltz.