DWU Dream Season Closes with Loss to Cornerstone in Title Game

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team's season came to a close in the 2015 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship title game, as the Tigers fell to Cornerstone University 66-45 Tuesday in Point Lookout, Mo.

The Tigers (32-5), in front of hundreds of DWU faithful that made the trip, got the gym rocking early when junior guard Trae Bergh (Crooks, S.D.) sank a 3-pointer to open the scoring. From there, the No. 3 Golden Eagles took over, going on a 17-2 run to establish an early lead that DWU never recovered from. The No. 5 Tigers started 1-of-8 from the field en route to a 22 percent shooting performance for the game, a season low. The 45 points scored by DWU was also a season low.

"I give Cornerstone all the credit in the world," DWU coach Matt Wilber said. "They played a great defensive game, but we shot 23 percent and that was probably the name of it. We just couldn't get one to go."

DWU trailed 42-20 at the half, with senior forward Jalen Voss (Worthington, Minn.) scoring 15 points before the break. With a jumper in the first half, Voss passed Brady Wiebe for fourth place on DWU' all-time scoring list.

The Golden Eagles, who have now won three NAIA Division II titles (1999, 2011), shot 56.3 percent in the first half. The Tiger defense stepped up its game in the second, holding Cornerstone to 24 points after the break. On the offensive end the Tigers couldn't get a run going. DWU shot 21 percent in the second half, including 3-of-16 from deep.

"When you shoot like that you are going to have a hard time winning and that is what the scoreboard reflected," Wilber said.

The Tigers pulled to within 15 a couple of times in the second half, but no closer, as the Golden Eagles held on for the win.

Voss closed out his remarkable career with 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting, while grabbing four rebounds and blocking thee shots. He was the lone Tiger to finish in double figures in the title game. Bergh scored nine points and was 2-of-10 from the field, while senior guard Kris Menning (Corsica, S.D.) added six points in his final game as a Tiger. Voss, Bergh and Menning were each named to the NAIA Division II All-Tournament Team for their performances over the last week.

Senior forward Luke Bamberg (Corsica, S.D.) earned the tournament Hustle Award. He closed his DWU career with a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Tigers were 13-of-57 from the field and 5-of-26 from deep. Cornerstone outrebound DWU 42-32.

The Golden Eagles were led by Ben Lanning, who scored 24 points, including five 3-pointers and grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double. Freshman Kyle Steigenga was named National Player of the Year for Cornerstone. The freshman scored 14 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the title-game win. Cornerstone was 26-of-61 from the field and 7-of-18 from deep.

The Tigers return home to Mitchel, S.D., as the national runner up, the best finish in the near 100 years of men's basketball at DWU.

In an awards ceremony following the game Wilber was named the Rawlings NAIA National Coach of the Year, which is the first for a DWU head coach. Wilber is always quick to put the praise on the program as a whole and not himself.

"Coach of the year awards in my mind are program awards," Wilber said. "I've got great assistant coaches. I've got players that are unbelievable and are so easy to coach. This award isn't for Matt Wilber, it's for Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball.

The Tigers say goodbye to five senior players, including Voss, Menning, Bamberg, Joey Mitchell (Tulare, S.D.) and Stephen Lee (Viborg, S.D.). The career also ends for student assistant coach Lee Niewenhuis (New Holland, S.D.). Menning and Mitchell, who played his first three seasons at Black Hills State University, each scored 1,000 points in their careers, while Voss became the fifth Tiger to score 2,000 points earlier in the national tournament.

"Behind the scenes, this group of seniors has flat out established a culture and they deserved to be on this stage," Wilber said. "I know how much they wanted to win that game, but what they have done for DWU is so much more. This run was everything that you look for out of sports."

There will be a welcome home reception at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Sherman Center on the DWU campus.