Harden and Hoglund pace No. 15 DWU in win

Mitchell, S.D.- Nick Harden (Chicago, Ill.) and Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) combined for 46 points as they pushed the No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team to victory over Midland University in a Great Plains Athletic Conference bout, 82-67 Sunday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell.

 It was Samuel McCloud (Rapid City, S.D.) and Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) who kicked off the scoring with back-to-back 3-pointers on the first two possessions of the contest.

 However, the Warriors (9-12, 4-8 GPAC) answered back with a 7-1 run to tie the game. Harden put an end to the Midland run as he scored on consecutive layups to help the Tigers (14-5, 8-4 GPAC) regain the lead. After five minutes of play, senior Aaron Ahmadu (Houston, Texas) nailed a 3-point basket, followed by a Hoglund 3-pointer to give DWU a 17-11 lead.

 After Midland pulled within a point, Harden drove to the basket and connected on his layup and was fouled. He made the ensuing free throw to put the Tigers up by four points.

 The Warriors would not go away quietly as they took their first lead of the game, 31-29. Less than two minutes later, Midland was assessed with a foul and a technical foul as Hoglund stepped to the free-throw line and sank four-straight free throws, giving the Tigers a 35-33 lead. DWU never looked back for the remainer of the first half as they held a 42-35 lead at intermission.

 In the second half, Tristan Teichmeier (Sioux Falls, S.D.) made his presence known. Following a missed layup, Teichmeier hauled in the offensive rebound and put back the layup to extend the Tiger lead.

 A few possessions later, Kramer found Teichmeier under the basket for an easy layup. On the next Tiger possession, Teichmeier dished the ball to Hoglund who drilled the 3-point basket to give DWU a 10-point lead, forcing a Midland timeout.

 A minute later Harden found Hoglund open behind the 3-point arc on a fast break as Hoglund hit yet another 3-pointer as the Tigers pushed their lead to 15 points. After Midland cut the lead to single digits, Ahmadu drove through the lane and missed the layup. But, it was Teichmeier who tipped the ball in to cushion the Tiger lead. 

 The 3-pointers continued to rain down in front of an impressive DWU crowd as Hoglund and Ahmadu connected on shots from downtown to help push the Tigers to victory.

 Harden finished with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Hoglund added 23 points on 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Ahmadu added 15 points, as Teichmeier chipped in 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. The Tigers shot 50 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range. DWU out-rebounded the Warriors 39-27, while finishing with 14 assists to three Midland assists.

 The Tigers hit the road to take on Northwestern College in a GPAC clash at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Orange City, Iowa.