AMES, Iowa – Iowa State guards Naz Long and DeAndre Kane earned Phillips 66 Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Week awards for their performances in Sunday’s season opening win against UNC Wilmington. Kane shared the newcomer of the week honor with Oklahoma’s Ryan Spangler.

In his first career start, Long posted a career-best 26 points (previous high was seven) with two rebounds and two assists in the Cyclones’ 95-62 win over UNCW. The sophomore guard was 9-of-12 (.750) from the field, including 8-of-11 (.727) from 3-point range. The eight 3-pointers ties for the third-most in school history. During his freshman campaign last year, Long scored a total of 25 points and made five 3-pointers for the entire season.

Kane narrowly missed a triple-double in his debut with the Cyclones despite playing just 25 minutes. The senior guard finished with 13 points, a career-high tying 11 rebounds and seven assists in the ISU victory. He had just one turnover and finished 4-of-6 (.667) from the field while making all five attempts from the free throw line.

Iowa State returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 7 p.m.

A group of basketball ambassadors will come to Harlan this (Monday) evening to take on some local celebrities. The Harlem Ambassadors are an organization similar to the Harlem Globetrotters and will bring high flying slam dunks and family comedy to the Harlan Community High School Gymnasium starting at 7pm. Dawn Gardner from the Harlan Community High School says the Ambassadors will play against the Harlan Community Hoopsters.

The Hoopsters will be coached by the Harlan Mayor Gene Gettys and Izzy Clark and the team is made up of current Harlan Community staff members such as Superintendent Justin Wagner, teacher Dan Hoch and former Harlan Community graduates including Randy Bissen, Paul Bruck and Kevin Osborn.

The entire event is sponsored by the Harlan Community Teammates Mentoring Program. Gardner says “The Teammates Program was started by Doctor Tom Osborne and Nancy Osborn in Nebraska as a school based mentoring program. Students meet once a week for an hour during the school year. It gives students an extra adult to look up to other than family members.”

No ticket is needed to get into the family show this evening at the high school gym but seating is limited. A free-will donation will be taken at the door with proceeds going to the Teammates program. Along with the basketball fun, the concession stand will be open as well as a merchandise stand from the Harlem Ambassadors. A signed basketball from the Ambassadors will be auctioned off to coach Izzy Clark, too.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

w/ Jim Field

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AMES, Iowa (AP) – Hallie Christofferson scored a career-high 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds as Number 23 Iowa State beat North Dakota 84-55 Sunday in the season opener for both teams. Iowa State struggled to break away from North Dakota for most of the first half, but the Cyclones closed the first half on a 14-5 run, pushing their half-time lead to 47-35. North Dakota never threatened in the second half.

Nicole Blaskowsky scored 14 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds while Nikki Moody added 10 points of her own.  Madi Buck led North Dakota with 16 points, and Megan Lauck scored 13 of her own. Mia Loyd led the team with 10 rebounds. North Dakota struggled from the field, shooting only 30 percent.

The win brought Iowa State’s season-opener record to a perfect 19-0 under head coach Bill Fennelly.

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Naz Long hit eight 3s en route to a career-high 26 points and Iowa State pounded UNC-Wilmington 95-62 on Sunday.  Georges Niang had 16 points and DeAndre Kane added 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Cyclones, (1-0), who cruised to their 16th straight win in a home opener.

Iowa State hit 15 3s – two shy of the school record set last year against Kansas – and closed the first half on a 38-9 run. Long had six 3s in the first half, becoming the first Iowa State player since 2008 to accomplish that feat.

Chris Dixon had 15 points for UNC-Wilmington (0-2). The Seahawks lost to Iowa by 43 points on Friday.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Aaron White had 20 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as Iowa came from behind to beat Nebraska-Omaha 83-75 on Sunday. Iowa (2-0) sunk 38 free throws to overcome 18 turnovers and a rough shooting night from the outside. Devyn Marble added 15 points for the Hawkeyes. Carter scored 22 points for Omaha (1-1). The Mavericks led for most of the game before faltering down the stretch.

The Hawkeyes looked lethargic and clumsy in the first half against Omaha — two days after a sharp performance in an 82-39 win over UNC-Wilmington. Iowa turned the ball over 12 times in the first half. Omaha routinely beat the Hawkeyes to loose balls and long rebounds. The Mavericks had 15 second-chance points in the half to lead 43-36 at halftime.

The Hawkeyes bench had 35 points. Zach McCabe scored 12 points and Clemmons added 11. Omaha’s Devin Patterson scored 13 points and John Karhoff added 11.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Bethany Doolittle shot 10 of 13 from the field and scored 22 points as Iowa upset No. 14 Dayton 97-93 in overtime on Sunday in the Hawkeye Challenge.  Samantha Logic hit a 3-pointer for Iowa with nine seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 90 and force overtime.

Iowa (2-0) held a 77-63 lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the second half and was up 85-79 with three minutes to play. But Dayton (1-1) then scored 11 straight points to take a 90-85 lead with 32 seconds left. Iowa held the Flyers to just 3 points in overtime and scored 5 of its 7 points in the extra frame on free throws.

Ally Disterhoft scored 19 points for the Hawkeyes and Logic added 16. Andrea Hoover led Dayton with 23.  Dayton is coming off a 28-3 season. Both teams lost in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

CHICAGO (AP) – Richard Carter scored a career-best 38 points and Drake hung on to escape Illinois-Chicago with a 61-59 victory for new coach Ray Giacoletti on Saturday. Carter, who averaged less than 10 points per game last season, hit 12 of 17 from the field and was 12-for-12 from the line, but even so the Bulldogs had to sweat the ending as a 9-point lead evaporated in the final eight minutes.

Illinois-Chicago’s Hayden Hume slashed to the basket with one second remaining only to have his layup rim in and out. Drake’s Jacob Enevold, who only played 11 minutes because of foul trouble, had subbed in for defense with 6 seconds left and snagged the win-preserving rebound, his only one of the game.

Marc Brown led the Flames with 22 points, Kelsey Barlow added 11 and Hume 10.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) – Tyler Sievertsen kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to lift Northern Iowa past Youngstown State and cap a 16-point fourth-quarter comeback, 22-20. The Panthers (5-5, 1-5 Missouri Valley) trailed 14-3 at intermission and 14-6 after three quarters, but Brion Carnes brought the team back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Chad Owens three minutes apart that put UNI ahead, 19-14, with under 10 minutes left to play.

Kurt Hess engineered a 13-play, 78-yard drive that put the Penguins (8-1, 5-1 Missouri Valley) back in the lead, 20-19, with 4:41 left, but a two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete.  Carnes matched Hess, spearheading a 56-yard, 15-play drive that reached the Youngstown State 17. Carnes was 18-for-30 for 219 yards to go with his two touchdowns.  Hess was 15 of 22 for 207 yards and a touchdown, and carried seven times for 20 yards and two touchdowns.

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) – Maurice Ndour scored 20 points in his first game for Ohio en route to a 75-64 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday in the season opener for both schools. Ndour joined the Bobcats after spending two years at Monroe College, and led four Ohio starters in double figures.

The Bobcats jumped to a 15-4 lead early in the game, but the Panthers closed the deficit to 28-27 late in the first half. Ohio responded with an 11-5 run and took a 39-32 lead to halftime.  Northern Iowa battled, trailing for most of the second half by single digits, but was unable to ever take the lead.

Nick Kellogg scored 16 for Ohio, while Ricardo Johnson added 14. Stevie Taylor had 10 points and 8 assists for the Bobcats.  Deon Mitchell scored 18 points to lead Northern Iowa. Chip Rank scored 14 points and Jeremy Morgan had 13 for the Panthers.