BIG DEFENSE AND QUICK BALL MOVEMENT EQUAL A WIN FOR TIGER MEN’S BASKETBALL

Mitchell, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball grabbed the big win against the (RV) Defenders of Dordt at home in front of a packed student section that some could say made a difference down the stretch in helping the Tigers emerge victorious. Blaze Lubbers was also a big key in the DWU win as he tied his career high in points, while going for a double-double.

The Quick Details

Score:

DWU 70- DOR 66

Records:

DWU 11-10 (GPAC 7-6)

DOR 16-5 (GPAC 8-5)

How It Happened

Lubbers got the Tigers rolling right away in the opening five and a half minutes, making all eight of DWU's points up to this point with a pair of shots from deep and a layup. Kallan Herman decided to jump in on the action with a three-point shot of his own with 14:21 to play. Jakob Dobney broke the two-minute cold spell with a layup tying the game at 13-13. The game continued to go back and forth with ties and lead changes till five-minutes before half time when the Defenders began to slowly push their lead out from a single possession to a multiple possession game. The Tigers burnt their first timeout of the half with three-minutes to go and trailing by five; once play resumed, DWU cut their margin to just three points after Diang Gatluak rebounded his own miss to put it back for the layup. With 30-seconds to play in the half, and the Tigers trailing 33-27; D'Andre Dennis had the shot attempt to cut the margin to just three points, but the rim was unforgiving to either team as Lubbers grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back up for the layup before halftime.

Opening the second half, DWU quickly turned their 33-29 halftime deficit into a 34-33 advantage within 46-seconds on a layup from Gatluak and a triple from Lubbers. Koln Oppold got in on the action hitting a shot from deep, pushing the Tigers lead out to two-points, 37-35. The two points advantage quickly turned into a 39-37 deficit forcing head coach Matt Wilber to burn his first 30-second timeout of the half. Dobney was able to bring DWU back even at 39-39 on a jump shot with 15:35 to play in regulation. Lubbers broke the tie with another shot from deep, but Dordt brought it back to a one-point game on their next trip down the floor. The following nine minutes, neither team was able to get more than a three-point lead. Dordt grabbed a brief four-point lead with three and a half minutes to play, but the Tigers continued to battle as Gatluak was able to get the two points on a tip-in bringing the margin back to 63-61 that got the Corn Palace on their feet. Lubbers hit another jump shot with two and a half minutes to play tying the game at 63-63. Herman followed it with a shot from deep on the next trip up the floor to lead (RV) Dordt 66-63 with just under two-minutes to play. After multiple timeouts between the Defenders and Dakota Wesleyan, Herman hit yet another shot from deep with 19-seconds to play, putting the Tigers head 69-63. That three from Herman was the final field goal from DWU, as the final basket came off a free throw from Gatluak.

The Tigers and Defenders were both strong on the boards, grabbing 38 and 39 rebounds, respectively. DWU forced 13 Dordt turnovers and turned that into 15 points, while also putting up 10 second chance points and 26 points in the paint. Overall, the Tigers shot 42.4% from the field, 36.4% beyond the arc, and went 2-of-6 at the foul line.  Lubbers had a breakout night, tying his career and season high in points with 21 and rebounds with 12.

Beyond the Results

• Blaze Lubbers: 21 points, 57.1 FG%, 57.1 3-pt%, 50 FT%, and 12 rebounds
• Jakob Dobney: 17 points, 50 FG%, 37.5 3-pt%, seven rebounds, and five assists
• Kallan Herman: 14 points, 38.4 FG%, 50 3-pt%, and two steals

Up Next

The Tigers have a tough stretch over the following seven days, having to travel to Briar Cliff on Saturday for a 3:45 p.m. tip-off in Sioux City, Iowa. Then heading to Orange City, Iowa for a makeup game against Northwestern on Monday before returning home next week Wednesday, February 1 for a meeting with the Jimmies of the University of Jamestown.