Comeback falls short as Tigers fall in overtime

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – With four seconds to play trailing by three points in overtime, the No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team had a final possession to force a second overtime. However, DWU dropped the Great Plains Athletic Conference contest to Northwestern College, 80-77 in Orange City, Iowa.

 Nick Harden (Chicago, Ill.) got off to a hot start scoring the first five points of the game. Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Tigers (14-6, 8-5 GPAC) a quick 8-0 lead, forcing the Northwestern timeout.

 The Red Raiders (13-8, 7-4 GPAC) climbed back into the game, but DWU would answer with a jump shot from Aaron Ahmadu (Houston, Texas) to hold the lead.

 Both teams continued to trade baskets, but the Tigers kept the momentum with back-to-back buckets from Tristian Teichmeier (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and an easy layup from Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) to give DWU a 25-22 lead.

 The Red Raiders took their first lead of the night on a slam dunk, forcing a DWU timeout. The Tigers would respond with an offensive rebound and basket from Teichmeier to regain the lead.

 With three minutes remaining in the first half and the score tied at 37, Hoglund nailed his first 3-pointer of the night to break the tie. After two free throws from Northwestern, DWU held a one point lead at halftime, 40-39.

 Northwestern came out in the second half on a 10-2 run as they held a 49-42 lead after four minutes of play. Moments later, defense led to offense as Hoglund blocked a shot and pitched the ball ahead to Harden who scored a layup to pull the Tigers within seven points.

 After being held scoreless for over three and a half minutes, Harden scored on a breakaway layup to bring the Tigers within 12 points. With under seven minutes to play, Ahmadu stole the ball and tossed it to Hoglund who made the layup to make the deficit single digits.

 With six minutes left, Harden dished the ball to Hoglund who drove to the basket and made the free throw and was fouled, making the score 62-56 with Northwestern leading.

 The Red Raiders answered as they extended the lead back to nine points. However, Hoglund and Ahmadu kept the Tigers in the game as DWU trailed 66-61 with two minutes to play.

 Samuel McCloud (Rapid City, S.D.) passed the ball to Hoglund on a back cut as he made the layup, bringing the deficit to three points. On the next possession, Hoglund drove through the lane, made the layup and got fouled. He made the free throw to tie the game at 69 with 19 seconds to play. Northwestern missed a shot at the buzzer as the game headed to overtime.

 Hoglund made the first basket of overtime with a layup as the Tigers held their first lead since the early moments of the second half. The Red Raiders answered with six-straight points to lead 75-71 with 30 seconds to play.

 Harden drove to the basket to pull DWU back within one possession. With four seconds left and DWU trailing by three points, Northwestern missed a free throw to give the Tigers a chance. But the last second shot fell short as the Tigers dropped the contest.

 Hoglund led all scorers with 27 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Harden chipped in 20 points and four rebounds. Teichmeier tallied 13 points off the bench and Ahmadu notched 11 points.

 The Tigers take on (RV) Hastings College in a GPAC bout at 4 p.m. Saturday in Hastings, Neb.