No. 3 Mustangs down No. 17 Tigers

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. – After holding a 40-32 halftime lead, the No. 17 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team fell to No. 3 Morningside 87-72 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference battle Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa.

 The Tigers (17-7 10-6 GPAC) scored the first basket, 10 seconds into the game on a Nick Harden (Chicago, Ill.) layup. After Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) drilled a 3-pointer to make it 5-2, both teams went scoreless for nearly two minutes until Harden connected on a 3-pointer to take an 8-2 lead.

 The Mustangs (20-1, 13-1 GPAC) went on 7-0 run to take the lead, but Hoglund would drive through the lane for a layup to stop the Morningside run. DWU sparked a run of their own after Hoglund scored seven straight points to put the Tigers back in front 17-15.

 Both teams continued to trade baskets in the middle of the first half as Harden and Hoglund continued to pace the Tiger offense. With seven minutes remaining in the first half, Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) recorded his first bucket with an easy layup. Samuel McCloud (Rapid City, S.D.) followed with a 3-pointer of his own to push the DWU lead to 31-23.

 Morningside would continue to answer Tiger baskets. At the end of the half, Harden poured in back-to-back layups to give DWU its biggest lead at 40-30. The Mustangs were able to convert on basket late in the half to make the score 40-32 in favor of the Tigers at halftime.

 Like the first half, DWU scored in the first 10 seconds of the half with a Kramer layup. Moments later, Harden sliced through the lane for a bucket to maintain the Tiger lead 46-37.

 The Mustangs quickly went on a 13-2 run to grab their first lead of the half. DWU would have an answer with back-to-back scoring possessions from Hoglund and McCloud and the Tigers were back in front by three.

 After a 3-point basket by Harden, Morningside would go on a 16-3 run in the middle of the second half. The Mustangs continued the offensive pressure throughout the remainder of the contest, scoring 55 points in the second half to defeat the Tigers 87-72.

 Hoglund led all scorers with 25 points including 10-of-18 from the field. Harden finished with 24 points, while Kramer tallied seven points and six rebounds. The Tigers shot 44 percent from the field, and 35 percent from the 3-point line.

 DWU will head north to matchup aganist GPAC foe, No. 18 University of Jamestown at 8 p.m. Wednesday in Jamestown, N.D.