Midland Lutheran held Nebraska Wesleyan to 14 percent shooting in the first ten minutes of the game to jump out to an early nine point lead and they would never trail in the game as the Warriors defeated the Prairie Wolves, 72-60, in GPAC men's basketball action on Tuesday night (Feb. 17) at Snyder Arena in Lincoln.

The win for Midland Lutheran was just their second victory over NWU in Lincoln in the last 16 meetings dating back to the 1992-93 season as Nebraska Wesleyan had won 14 of the last 15 in Lincoln.

The Warriors end their regular season with a 8-21 overall record and 6-12 mark in the GPAC, while NWU falls to 10-14 and 6-11 in the GPAC.

NWU got back within one point at 24-23 with 2:12 to play before halftime, but the Warriors led 31-24 at half. The Prairie Wolves closed within three points twice early in the second half but they would get no closer.

After Jake Spurgeon's 3-pointer to open the second half, the Prairie Wolves would not make another field goal for the next 10 minutes until the 9:55 mark in the second half. MLC would go on a 13-3 run over that period to make the lead double digits and the Prairie Wolves couldn't recover.

The two teams combined to shoot 65 free throws in the game, but NWU struggled going 18-34 from the charity stripe for 52.9 percent.

Jason Ahrens led Midland Lutheran with a game-high 23 points and added four assists. Luke Simons pitched in 14 points for the Warriors.

NWU was led by Preston Englund who scored a career-high 17 points, going 9-15 from the free throw line. Spurgeon added 15.

Nebraska Wesleyan will end the 2008-09 season on Saturday afternoon when they host Hastings College.