Tiger men fall to Morningside, 92-84

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team had Morningside College on the ropes Wednesday night at the Corn Palace, but could never find a way to take control of the game. The Tigers were within three of the Mustangs, who are receiving votes in the NAIA, with seven minute to go, but Morningside held on for a 92-84 win.

The loss is the second straight for the Tigers, who are now 13-10 overall and 6-7 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. DWU is tied for sixth in the league with Northwestern College with seven conference games remaining. The Mustangs are fourth at 15-7 overall and 9-3 in the league.

Morningside took its biggest lead of the second half, 50-38, with 16:59 left to play on a layup by Bryce Koch, and DWU was able to get within seven on several occasions, but the Mustangs pushed their lead back to 11 with 14:10 to go. A layup by Luke Bamberg and a free throw by Trae Bergh made it a six-point game, 58-52, with 11:26 to play, but Danny Rudeen hit a three to push the Mustangs' lead back to nine, 61-52. Jade Miller hit a pair of free throws and Bergh scored, and Bamberg hit a three to cut the Mustangs' lead to four, 63-59. Trent Miller responded with a three, but Bamberg scored again and Kris Menning hit two free throws to make it a three-point game, 66-64, with 7:36 to go.

Morningside, however, went on an 8-0 run to push their lead back to 11, 74-63, with 4:32 left to play. Menning hit a three to stop the run and make it an eight-point game, but the Mustangs used a Rudeen layup and a pair of free throws to go up 12. Miller hit a three for DWU and Menning scored to get the Tigers' within seven with 2:46 left to play, but Andrew Christen hit a three and Morningside held on from there.

The Mustangs jumped to an eight-point lead, 10-2, with just over four minutes gone from the game, and pushed their lead to 11 two minutes later. Bergh hit a three to spark a 13-2 run that ended with another 3-pointer by Bergh and tied the game at 17. Morningside scored nine straight points to take a 26-17 lead, and a three by Bergh got DWU within four, 30-26, with 5:27 left in the half, but Morningside answered with a 15-3 run and led 45-31 at halftime.

Menning finished with 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to pace DWU, which shot 40.8 percent from the field and hit 14 threes. Bergh finished with 19 points, including five threes, and Jalen Voss added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Bamberg finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and Tate Martin had eight assists. The Tigers went 12-for-18 from the line and had six turnovers.

Rudeen led Morningside with 20 points. Steve O'Neill and Miller each added 14, Koch finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, Ryan Tegtmeier had 11 points and Christen finished with 10 points. The Mustangs shot 43.8 percent from the field, hit nine threes and went 19-for-23 from the line. They outrebounded the Tigers 53-38 and had nine turnovers.

DWU is on the road Saturday, Feb. 1, when it travels to Crete, Neb., to take on Doane College at 4 p.m. The Tigers turn around and play the Mustangs again Monday, Feb. 3 – this time in Sioux City, Iowa – at 8 p.m. in a makeup game from Dec. 4.