DWU men beat Presentation 69-36

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team held Presentation College scoreless for seven minutes in the first half and gave up just 11 first-half points en route to a 69-36 nonconference victory over the Saints Tuesday night at the Corn Palace.

Sophomore Trae Bergh, who tied the school records with 10 3-pointers against Trinity Bible College Monday, hit a three to start the scoring for the game and spark a 10-2 run for Dakota Wesleyan (2-0). The Saints scored on back-to-back layups to make it 10-6 with 12:48 left in the half, but didn't score again until the 5:04 mark. In that time, the Tigers went on an 18-0 run to go up 28-8.

Dakota Wesleyan led 34-11 at halftime, and extended its lead to 25 to start the second on a jumper by Luke Bamberg. The Tigers' lead hovered in the 20s for much of the second half, and a pair of free throws by Jon Vorwald made it a 30-point game, 62-32, with 4:03 left to play.

Jade Miller scored a team-high 18 points to pace Dakota Wesleyan. Bergh added 13 points and Sawyer Gibson finished with nine. Miller also had eight rebounds and Gibson had seven, and Tate Martin finished with five assists. The Tigers shot 43.4 percent from the field, hit 10 3-pointers and went 13-for-20 from the line. They had 47 rebounds to Presentation's 29.

Anthony Hendricks scored seven points to pace Presentation and Chevy Fischer added five. Hendricks and Vladimir Charlitte each had four rebounds. The Saints shot 21.7 percent from the field and went 15-for-26 from the line.

The Tigers are back at home Friday, Nov. 8 and 9 when they host the annual Fulton State Bank Classic. DWU hosts Bellevue University at 8 p.m. Friday and the University of Benedictine at Springfield at 6 p.m. Saturday. Dakota State plays Benedictine at 6 p.m. Friday and the Trojans take on Bellevue at 4 p.m. Saturday.