DWU men exact revenge on Prairie Wolves

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team traded the lead several times with Nebraska Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon, but took the lead when it counted most – at the end of the game.

The Prairie Wolves led late in the second half, but Luke Bamberg scored with 2:04 left to give DWU a lead it would never give back and the Tigers held on for a 77-70 win in Lincoln, Neb. Saturday's win marked a season split for DWU and the Prairie Wolves, who beat the Tigers 89-84 in their first Great Plains Athletic Conference game of the season at the Sanford Pentagon in November.

Nebraska Wesleyan (9-7, 4-7 GPAC) led by six, 57-51, with 9:05 left to play, but DWU went on a 9-2 run to take a 60-59 lead on a layup by Jalen Voss with 5:29 left to play. The lead changed seven times in the next three minutes, but the Tigers took the lead for good when Bamberg scored to put DWU up 68-67 and spark a 7-0 run to put DWU up 73-67 with 24 seconds left. Kris Menning and Voss each hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.

Dakota Wesleyan (12-8, 5-5) took an early lead against NWU, and went up seven, 13-6, after threes by Jade Miller and Trae Bergh with 13:20 left in the first half. Bergh hit another three a short time later to put the Tigers up eight, and a layup by Voss made it an eight-point game again, 18-10, with 11 minutes left in the half, but the Prairie Wolves went on an 11-0 run to go up 21-18 with 6:32 remaining. NWU maintained a slim lead much of the remaining six minutes in the first half, but Voss hit a layup to but DWU up 31-30 at halftime.

Eric Jackson scored for NWU early in the second half, and the Prairie Wolves held a slim lead until Voss scored with 10:39 left to put the Tigers up 51-49. Nebraska Wesleyan regained the lead, and pushed it to six before the Tigers made their comeback for the win.

Voss scored a game-high 29 points and added six rebounds to pace Dakota Wesleyan. Miller finished with 20 points and Bamberg had 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Tigers shot nearly 51 percent from the field and hit nine threes. They went 14-for-19 from the line and had 39 rebounds and 12 turnovers.

Jackson finished with 21 points for NWU, which shot 47.5 percent from the field. Trevor Johnson added 18 points and seven rebounds and Tim Schweitzer added 12 points. The Prairie Wolves went 4-for-7 from the line and had 24 rebounds and seven turnovers.

DWU is back at home Wednesday, Jan. 22, when it hosts Briar Cliff University at 8 p.m.