No. 17 Tigers top Jimmies

MITCHELL, S.D. – After two close losses, the No. 17 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team used clutch free-throw shooting and defense down the stretch to collect their seventh win of the season against University of Jamestown, 86-80 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference game Tuesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

 Both teams were scoreless a minute into the game until Nick Harden (Chicago, Ill.) made a layup off a Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) steal to take an early 2-0 lead.

 Minutes later, a pair of Kramer free throws extended the DWU lead to four points. The Jimmies (7-2, 2-2 GPAC) used a quick 5-0 spurt to take an 8-7 lead following a 3-point shot.

 However, the lead did not last long as Harden connected on another layup followed by two Koln Oppold (Sioux Falls, S.D.) free throws to give the Tigers (7-2, 3-2 GPAC) an 11-8 lead.

 Midway through the first half, DWU used a 6-0 run capped off by a Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) layup to push the Tiger lead to 17-12. After the Jimmies pulled within a point, the Tigers went another run, this time with a 9-3 run.

 But, Jamestown closed the first half with a run of their own in the final four minutes with a 15-3 run to take a 36-32 lead at halftime.

 In the second half Jamestown held a 44-35 lead in the opening three minutes. However, Samuel McCloud (Rapid City, S.D.) scored five-straight points to ignite a Tiger run as Oppold tied the game with a deep 3-point shot. Moments later, Hoglund intercepted a pass at the top of the key and took it the other way for a layup to give the Tigers their first lead of the second half.

 Every time the Tigers began to pull away, Jamestown climbed back within a point. DWU began to pull away late, however, following an Aaron Ahmadu (Houston, Texas) 3-point shot that gave the Tigers a seven-point lead. The Jimmies started fouling the Tigers with a minute remaining, but DWU knocked down free throws to seal the game.

 Harden led the team with 21 points while shooting 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. Hoglund tallied 16 points and four rebounds, as Oppold scored 15 points off the bench. McCloud notched a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

 DWU shot 40.4 percent from the field and 91.2 percent from the charity stripe. The Tigers shot 31-of-34 from the free-throw line and scored 19 points off 14 Jamestown turnovers.

 The Tigers hit the road as they take on No. 10 Briar Cliff University at 8 p.m. on Nov. 28 in Sioux City, Iowa.