DWU tournament run by the numbers

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Numbers have been flying fast and records have been falling at the 2015 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament. The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team has been putting up the numbers on the court in front of Tiger crowd that has made Keeter Gymnasium feel like a home game each time out.

The incredible numbers started from the get go in round one with the Tigers shooting 74.1 percent in the first half against round-one foe Milligan College. DWU was hitting from all over the court, but put the pedal to the floor from deep. The Tigers finished one 3-pointer shy of tying the all-time tournament record for a single game with 16, including four from Kris Menning and four from Trae Bergh. The 62.5 percent performance from the floor was less than 2 percent off breaking the school mark for accuracy in a game.

The second round brought about another important number and it was a big one. With a pair of free throws in the second half against Ashford University, Jalen Voss reached the 2,000-point milestone. Voss is just the fifth Tiger to score 2,000 points while wearing the blue and white. He joins Alan Miller (2,920), Scott Morgan (2,810), Greg Hansen (2,146) and Brady Wiebe (2,052). Voss enters the title game 14 points shy of passing Wiebe for fourth all time and has moved from 21^st on the list at the start of the season to fifth.

Another important number from the win over the Saints is 27.5 percent. That is what the stifling DWU defense held Ashford to in terms of shooting from the floor. DWU outrebounded the Saints by 12 and Ashford mustered just one assist as a team.

The quarterfinal game against No. 4 College of Idaho turned into a battle of wills, and no one showed more fight than Luke Bamberg. The senior forward doubled his rebounding average and nearly tripled his normal scoring output. Bamberg finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Twenty seven is how many more free throws the Tigers took compared the Coyotes, accounting for 34 points in the eight-point DWU win.

In the national semifinal, the number was nine. That's how many times Bergh found the bottom of the bucket from deep. The total was one shy of tying the school and tournament record for 3-pointers made in a game. The Tigers also posted their best team effort of the tournament, dishing out 21 assists, compared to just two from Davenport University.

The tournament has helped push this year's team to several new school records. The Tigers have scored 3,121 points this season, easily surpassing the previous team best of 2,725 set in 2008-09. DWU has made 1,117 field goals, also a new school record that will be added to in the title game. The previous mark for field goals in a season was 982, set in 2009-10.

The 32 wins so far, has surpassed the team's previous best of 28 from 2009-10. The team's 51.5 percent shooting from the field this season is on pace to set a new mark, breaking the 50.6 percent standard set 30 years ago. DWU is 78.2 percent from the free-throw line in 2014-15 and a strong performance in the title game could push this year's team past the school record of 78.5 percent, also set 30 years ago. Voss joined the 2,000-point club, but three other Tigers moved past 1,000-career points this season. Menning and Bergh each joined the DWU 1,000-point club, while senior transfer Joey Mitchell also reached the mark after spending his first three college seasons at Black Hills State University.

With all of the tremendous numbers posted by the 2014-15 Tigers, the most important number is one. One game to be the last one standing with the National Championship trophy on Tuesday night.