By Tony Chapman
sports.desk@theindependent.com

Guards Jeremiah Slough, a Doniphan-Trumbull graduate, and Waid Vontz made big play after big play for the Hastings in the second half of a 52-49 win over Nebraska Wesleyan at Lynn Farrell Arena. The duo each scored 13 points for Hastings, with Slough also dishing out a game-high six assists.

Guard play was something the Broncos (19-11, 9-9 GPAC), who had won just three times in the 14 games since senior guard Cory Fehringer was lost for the year with a knee injury, desperately needed heading into the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament.

"We've missed some things game management-wise these past few weeks that would have won us some ball games," HC coach Lance Creech said. "I thought tonight that Jeremiah did a great job of just managing the game for us. He did all the things we needed him to do for us to win."

That included playing 39 minutes.

"We just decided today was the day we were going to play loose and see what happened," Slough said. "We've kind of had this monkey on our back from losing and we needed to get rid of it.

"We had fun and good things happened."

Slough kick-started an HC run that turned a 33-30 lead with just under 12 minutes left to 42-32 at the 7:18 mark when he stole the ball from Wesleyan guard Marcus Minzel and converted a layup and foul shot.

HC led 49-36 with 4:06 left in the game when Slough connected on two free throws, but Wesleyan made things interesting. They scored 11 consecutive points and when Dylan Aylward stole the ball from Bronco center Bobby Kempf and went in for a layup the Prairie Wolves (13-12, 7-11) had cut the lead to 49-47.

But, there Vontz was on HC's next possession.

He rebounded a missed 3-point shot by James Davis and then scored on a driving bucket with 32.7 seconds left to give Hastings a four-point cushion. Slough added a free throw to give Hastings its 19th win of the season.

"Waid's been down for a long time and he's such a competitor that he isn't used to that," Creech said of the Nebraska-Kearney transfer. "I'm happy for him and that he could make some shots for us down the stretch and get us a big hoop when we needed it."

Kempf led HC with 15 points but was just 5-for-14 from the field and 5-for-11 from the free-throw line. But he tipped the ball out of Aylward's hands in the closing seconds to force Ryan Thramer to throw up a desperation shot as time expired.

"It was ugly most of the game for us," Creech said. "But we showed some resiliency and got a result on the winning side of the column."

The numbers were ugly at half for the Broncos. They made just 8-of-24 shots from the field and only 8-of-15 foul shots, yet they led 29-21 when Scott Wissing hit a 3-point shot from the top of the key with seven seconds left in the half.

Hastings battled through early shooting woes and the game was tied and nine with the Broncos making just one field goal. HC took its first lead on a long range shot from Slough and he added another with 3:10 left in the half for a 26-19 advantage.

The Broncos will host Mount Marty (S.D.) in an opening-round game of the GPAC Tournament on Tuesday with an opportunity to be the first 20-win Hastings team since the 1994-95 team advanced to the Elite Eight of the NAIA National Tournament.

The tournament is a new beginning for Slough and his teammates.

"The beauty of basketball is you have to get beat for your season to end," he said. "We've got one more game in front of our home crowd and we want to win that won and see where it takes us."

HASTINGS COLLEGE 52, NEB. WESLEYAN 49

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN (13-12, 7-11)

Aylward 7-12 3-4 18, Minzel 5-12 6-6 17, Thramer 3-8 2-2 10, Hrabik 1-3 0-0 2, Arp 1-4 0-1 2, O'Neil 0-1 0-0 0, Hullman 0-0 0-0 0, Spurgeon 0-2 0-0 0, Joynt 0-3 0-0 0, Englund 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-45 11-13 49.

HASTINGS COLLEGE (19-11, 9-9)

Kempf 5-14 5-11 15, Slough 3-11 5-7 13, Vontz 5-9 0-1 13, Wissing 2-8 0-2 5, Etzelmiller 0-2 3-6 3, Davis 1-3 0-0 3, Wamsley 0-0 0-0 0, Zelasney 0-0 0-0 0, Prochaska 0-1 0-0 0, Spooner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-48 13-27 52.

HalftimeHastings College 29, Nebraska Wesleyan 21. 3-point goalsNebraska Wesleyan 4-17 (Thramer 2-6, Minzel 1-6, Aylwar 1-2, Spurgeon 0-2, Hrabik 0-1), Hastings College 7-19 (Vontz 3-7, Slough 2-5, Wissing 1-4, Davis 1-3). Fouled outNone. ReboundsNebraska Wesleyan 33 (Thramer 6), Hastings College 37 (Etzelmiller 10). AssistsNebraska Wesleyan 9 (Arp 3), Hastings College 10 (Slough 6). TurnoversNebraska Wesleyan 15, Hastings 15. Total foulsNebraska Wesleyan 22, Hastings College 18. TechnicalsNone. ANA.

* women

Hastings 114, Neb. Wesleyan 40

Little went wrong for the Hastings women as they tuned up for the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament with a 114-40 blitzing of Nebraska Wesleyan.

The NAIA Div. II No. 4-ranked Broncos hit the 100-point barrier with 5 minutes, 3 seconds left on a running jumper by Maggie Schmaderer. Hastings (26-4, 15-3 GPAC) won its ninth straight contest.

"What can you say," Bronco coach Tony Hobson said after watching his team shoot 41-for-67 from the floor. "I think (Wesleyan) ran into a little bit of a buzzsaw today. We came out ready to play, which we expected on Senior Day.

"I think the girls wanted to have a good game for (Haruka Yamashita)."

It was Yamashita who carried the load for HC quite fitting for Hobson's only senior. She scored a season-high 21 points, dished out six assists and had three steals against the Prairie Wolves (5-20, 2-16).

"How can you not love playing with someone who passes you the ball all the time," Hobson added with a smile. "She was probably more aggressive scoring today than she's been since she has been here."

Hastings led by scores of 9-0, 27-2 and 34-4 before taking a 53-14 lead at the half. It connected on 21-of-37 shots from the field and 7-of-12 shots from beyond the arc. Amazingly, the Broncos hit 67 percent of their shot in the second half as Hobson began resting starters at the 10 minute mark.

Ravenna sophomore Heather McKeon scored 12 of her 20 points in the first half. Central City graduate Kay Broekemeier added 14 points, Rachel Isherwood 13 and Grand Island Central Catholic's Amber Kulus chipped in 12.

The Broncos now rest until Thursday when they will host a GPAC Tournament quarterfinal. Hastings will be the third seed in the tournament and play the winner of the Dakota Wesleyan-Dana game to be played on Tuesday.

HASTINGS COLLEGE 114, NEB. WESLEYAN 40

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN (5-20, 2-16)

Aschtgen 4-8 0-0 9, Gould 3-4 0-0 7, Struebing 3-13 0-0 6, Stratbucker 2-3 0-0 5, McLean 1-5 1-3 3, Golden 1-6 1-3 3, Kroese 0-2 2-2 2, Bordovsky 1-6 0-0 2, Woodard 1-2 0-0 2, Parrish 0-1 1-2 1, Shurts 0-2 0-0 0, Barber 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Mahlman 0-3 0-0 0, Goracke 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-58 5-10 40.

HASTINGS COLLEGE (26-4, 15-3)

Yamashita 8-12 2-2 21, McKeon 7-9 2-2 20, Broekemeier 5-6 1-3 14, Isherwood 4-11 5-5 13, Kulus 3-5 3-4 12, Lien 4-6 1-4 9, Faimon 3-4 1-2 7, Schmaderer 2-6 0-0 5, VanKirk 2-3 0-0 5, Farmer 2-2 0-0 4, Cambridge 1-2 2-3 4, Wesley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 41-67 17-25 114.

HalftimeHastings College 53, Nebraska Wesleyan 14. 3-point goalsNebraska Wesleyan 3-10 (Stratbucker 1-2, Goul 1-1, Aschtgen 1-1, Golden 0-1, Bordovsky 0-1, Woodard 0-1, Mahlman 0-2, Goracke 0-1), Hastings College 15-24 (McKeon 4-5, Broekemeier 3-3, Yamashita 3-4, Kulus 3-5, VanKirk 1-2, Schmaderer 1-4, Faimon 0-1). Fouled outNone. ReboundsNebraska Wesleyan 40 (Struebing 8), Hastings College 38 (Schmaderer, Broekemeier 5). AssistsNebraska Wesleyan 6 (Struebing 2), Hastings College 25 (Yamashita 6). TurnoversNebraska Wesleyan 32, Hastings College 8. Total foulsNebraska Wesleyan 17, Hastings College 13. TechnicalsNone. ANA.