DWU takes care of No. 10 Morningside in critical GPAC bout

MITCHELL, S.D. – The No. 20 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team hosted No. 10 Morningside College and defeated the Mustangs after Trae Vandeberg (Madison, S.D.) notched six 3-pointers, lifting the Tigers to an 85-75 Great Plains Athletic Conference victory Wednesday night at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

 Vandeberg got right to work with a 3-pointer to open up the scoring followed by another three-point shot moments later to give DWU an 8-2 lead.

 Midway through the first half, Vandeberg nailed another deep 3-pointer to give the Tigers (15-5, 5-3 GPAC) 24-15 lead.

 Although, the Mustangs (12-4, 4-2 GPAC) evened the game at 26 with three minutes to play in the first half and took a 33-30 lead into intermission.

 The Tigers began the second half on a 13-4 run capped off by a Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) 3-pointer to give them a 43-37 lead. A minute later, Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) drained a three-point shot followed by Nygel Drury (Madison, Wis.) knocking a 3-pointer in of his own to give DWU a 10-point lead.

 With 5:39 left to play, Drury drove to the lane and finished the layup to give DWU a 75-55 lead. The Mustangs put together a run of their own and cut the DWU lead to single digits with two minutes remaining. However, the Tigers fended off the Morningside run and ended the night with their first victory of 2018.

 Vandeberg led the team with 22 points and five rebounds, while Hoglund scored 19 points and nabbed six rebounds. Drury tallied 15 points and six rebounds, as Jason Spicer (Sioux Falls, S.D.) added 11 points and six assists. The Tigers shot 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range.

 DWU takes on GPAC opponent No. 11 Northwestern College at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Orange City, Iowa.