Despite not making a field in the final 11:51 of the game, Nebraska Wesleyan University held on for a 68-61 upset victory over #12 Dordt on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 10) at Snyder Arena in Lincoln.

Nebraska Wesleyan led by 21 points at 56-35 after Andrew Palmer made a 3-pointer with 11:51 to play. The Prairie Wolves (8-6, 4-3 GPAC) did not make a field goal the rest of the half, but held on for the win. NWU did go 12-18 from the free throw line during that time to hold off the Defenders.

Dordt (11-5, 5-2 GPAC), who was ranked 12th in NAIA II and tied for 2nd in the GPAC, made a furious comeback aided by a fierce full court press. The Defenders went on a 23-5 run over a 10 minute span and pulled within 61-58 with 1:49 to play, but that was as close as they could get.

Lee Hullman helped ice the victory by going 4-4 from the foul line in the final 30 seconds, including a banked free throw to put NWU up six points.

It was the Nebraska Wesleyan bench that was the big story on the offensive end of the floor. The Prairie Wolves got 35 points from the bench, which was made up of four true freshman. Andrew Palmer scored a career-high 11 points and made 3-6 from 3-point range, Nick Dinan had seven points, four rebounds and three assists, while Mitch Liberty led the team with four assists.

Ryan Thramer led NWU with 12 points and five rebounds, while Dyland Aylward joined Palmer with 11 points. Preston Englund added 10 points.

Dordt was led by Michael Eekhoff who scored 22 points.

Nebraska Wesleyan will be back in action next Sunday (Jan. 18) when they take on another nationally-ranked team when they travel to Mitchell, S.D., to play Dakota Wesleyan University.