DWU drops home bout against Hastings

MITCHELL, S.D. – Down by seven points with two minutes to play, the No. 18 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team mounted a late comeback, but fell short to Hastings College, 71-69 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup Saturday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

 It was back-and-forth in the opening minutes as neither team pulled away from each other. However, the Broncos (16-8, 6-6 GPAC) took a 12-6 lead following two free throws. But the Tigers (17-8, 7-6 GPAC) answered back with a pair of free throws by Nygel Drury (Madison, Wis.) and a Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) jump shot.

 DWU took their first lead of the game, 27-26 after Tyson Smiley (Omaha, Neb.) made a free throw. With less than a minute to play in the half, Drury found his way through the defense and made the layup to cut the deficit to 36-31 at the break.

 Coming out of halftime, Hoglund and Drury made back-to-back layups to make it a one-point game. Moments later, Jason Spicer (Sioux Falls, S.D.) knocked in five-straight points to keep the Tigers within striking distance. With under ten minutes to play, Hastings made a 3-pointer to build their lead to double-digits.

 But the Tigers were not going to be denied as Spicer made a layup and Drury and Hoglund connected on free throws to make it a 61-55 game with 6:33 left. With less than two minutes to play, Spicer made six-straight free throws to cut the margin to a point and bring the crowd to their feet. However, Hastings answered and held off the Tigers in the end.

 Spicer led all scorers with 28 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line, grabbed six rebounds and notched four assists. Hoglund and Drury scored 13 points each, as Trae Vandeberg (Madison, S.D.) added eight points and seven rebounds and Smiley tallied five points off the bench. DWU shot 44 percent from the field and finished with 44 points in the paint to 32 from Hastings.

 The Tigers host Mount Marty College at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.