TIGERS FALL IN A HEART BREAKER AGAINST THE TROJANS, 77-76

Madison, S.D. – Tigers fall to the Dakota State Trojans in the final seconds after Randy Rosenquist Jr. gave the Tigers a two-point lead with three seconds. Ethan Determan poured in a career high 26 points for the Tigers to keep them in the game. Randy Rosenquist was all around the floor, as he scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds, and dished seven assists. Samuel Aslesen and Kaden Year went to work on the defensive side as Aslesen put down four blocks and Year led the team with seven rebounds. 

Highlighted Player – Ethan Determan – 26 points, 10-15 FG, 3-5 3PT

Stat Leaders:

Points – Ethan Determan (26)

Assists – Randy Rosenquist Jr. (7)

Rebounds – Kaden Year (7)

Blocks – Samuel Aslesen (4)

Recap – The first half was a game of back-and-forth buckets, as both teams found their offense right out of the gates. Jakob Dobney got the Tigers on the scoreboard with two elbow jump shots. The Tigers would find themselves down two points six minutes into the half, but Ethan Determan had a quick first step past his defender then jumped around the next line of defense to convert his layup and score the and one free throw to give the Tigers their second lead of the game. Trojans answered back and hit a quick three pointer and a pair of jump shots before Coach Wilber called his timeout with 12:29 remaining. This timeout gave the Tigers the breather they needed, and the offense went on a 9-0 that was capped off by a Determan triple. The Trojans wanted to talk about and called a timeout and the two teams would trade buckets back and forth before the Tigers found themselves down four in the closing seconds. Dodney would come around a screen and hit a deep triple and fouled on his way down and scored the free throw to pull the Tigers within one point as the first half buzzer rang. 

The second half was an absolute battle. Trojans opened the second half with a quick six-point run forcing a Tiger timeout. DWU would freshman Determan tp bring them back into the game, and he did just that scoring 16 points in the second half for the Tigers. Determan would score a huge and one bucket and swish the free throw to cut the deficit to three points with fifteen minutes remaining in the contest. Samuel Aslesen was once again a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the court as he blocked several Trojan shots in the second half, which allowed Determine to hit a triple and a jumper in back-to-back possessions to tie the ball game up halfway through the second half. This would give the Tigers the lead for a most of the second half, keeping the Trojans at bay by at least one possession. Coming down to the final stretch, the game was knotted up at 74 a piece with Tiger's controlling the ball. Randy Rosenquist Jr. came off a screen at the top of the three and drilled the would-be game winner from the right elbow to go up 76-74. The officials put up a way to generous three seconds on the clock to give the Trojans a chance. A deep pass was tipped by a Tiger defender and put the Trojans under their own basket with enough time for one last shot. The Trojans found their shooter and he would drill the game winning bucket. 

Up Next for the Tigers -

The Tigers will be back in action Friday at home as they face Doane in the Battle of the Tigers. Tip-off is set for 6:45 P.M. in Mitchell, S.D.