Tiger men hold on against BCU, remain perfect

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team has made a habit of running away from teams in the second half of games this season, but Briar Cliff University hung with the potent Tiger attack throughout on Tuesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.

DWU eventually put the Chargers away and picked up a win in the team's Great Plains Athletic Conference home opener. The Tigers improve to a perfect 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the GPAC.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Tigers, who held a slim two-point lead at the half, and after a back-and-forth affair for most of the second half, DWU pulled away and built as much as a 13-point lead. The Chargers made a late move on the strength of some desperation 3-pointers, but DWU made its free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

DWU was led by senior forward Jalen Voss (Worthington, Minn.) with a game-high 20 points. The reigning GPAC Player of the Week scored the first nine points of the game for DWU before sitting the final 12 minutes of the first half with foul trouble. After returning in the second half, Voss took over on the inside to push the Tigers.

Senior forward Luke Bamberg (Corsica, S.D.) was all over the court for the Tigers, finishing with a double-double. Bamberg scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while coming away with five blocks.

Senior guard Kris Menning (Corsica, S.D.) scored 17 points, including three 3-pointers and made 6-of-6 free-throw attempts. Menning finished with nine rebounds, just shy of a double-double.

Senior guard Joey Mitchell (Tulare, S.D.) added 16 points and a team-high six assists, while junior guard Trae Bergh (Crooks, S.D.) chipped in with 13 points.

The Tigers shot 45.5 percent from the field and made 5-of-20 shots from behind the three-point line. DWU outrebounded the Chargers 36-30.

BCU found production off the bench as Clay Harreld and Shane Graves scored 16 and 14 points, respectively. Forward Matt Berg also scored 16 points for BCU, which shot 46 percent and made 8-of-19 shots from three-point range.

The Tigers are off until a home date with Morningside College at 8 p.m. on Dec. 3 at the Corn Palace.