DWU's historic run continues, Tigers headed to National Title game

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – When he limped of the court in the second half of Saturday's game, the Dakota Wesleyan University faithful waited anxiously to see what junior guard Trae Bergh would have left for Tiger men's basketball team's national semifinal game on Monday.

The Crooks, S.D., native had plenty in store for No. 8 Davenport University, as Bergh had perhaps the best performance of his career in an 80-51 win over Panthers, sending No. 5 DWU to the final of the 2015 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

"It's pretty easy to say that Trae is simply special," DWU coach Matt Wilber said. "He does everything the right way, he is an unbelievable competitor and I just love him. Today was such a big-time performance. Making the shots is one thing, but no one will ever question his effort. It's a performance for the ages."

After the Tigers started slow on offense, Bergh took control. He got DWU going with the long ball, hitting nine in the game, one shy of tying the DWU school record, which he already shares, and the tournament mark. Bergh was 9-of-15 from deep and finished with a team-high 29 points, the most scored by a Tiger in this year's tournament.

DWU led by as many as 16 in the first half and took a 43-29 lead into the locker room. DU was held in the game by the performance of leading scorer Dominez Burnett, who scored a game-high 32 points and had 22 of his team's 29 points in the first half.

In the second, DWU continued to pull away led by Bergh who seemingly could not miss. He made five second-half 3-pointers, each one followed by a raucous cheer form the DWU crowd that has swelled in size with each DWU win at the tournament.

"It's overwhelmingly humbling to see this crowd," Wilber said. "It's such an honor to be the coach at Dakota Wesleyan and it gives me such warmth in stomach to be out there in front our team and our fans with the way they have showed up to support us."

Wilber praised his team's effort and felt this was the most complete effort the Tigers have shown at the tournament. DWU finished with 21 assists, compared to two from DU, and outrebounded the Panthers 36-29. The Tigers have struggled at times turning the ball over in their previous three games in Point Lookout, Mo., but Wilber's bunch controlled the flow of the game and finished with just seven turnovers.

"I thought we really looked like us," Wilber said. "We had some really good looks and we will take those any day. I thought we did a great job of moving the ball, taking care of it and finishing."

Senior forward Jalen Voss (Worthington, Minn.) had another strong performance, scoring 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds. He is now 14 points away from surpassing Brady Wiebe (2007-11) for the fourth spot on DWU's all-time scoring list.

Senior guard Kris Menning (Corsica, S.D.) added 14 points, including three 3-pointers, while grabbing five rebounds and finishing with five assists. Senior forward Luke Bamberg (Corsica, S.D.) had a team-high 10 rebounds and chipped in with five assists. The Tigers shot 27-of-55 from the field and 12-of-30 from deep.

Burnett was the lone Panther to finish in double figures, scoring 32 of DU's 51 points. Burnett was 12-of-19 from the field and 3-of-3 from deep. He added 11 rebounds for the double-double. The Panthers shot 18-of-59 from the field and 3-of-14 from deep.

Each win supplants the previous as the biggest in the history of DWU men's basketball, as the Tigers are set to play in the National Final for the first time in their near 100-year history.

"It's coming at us so fast that there just isn't enough time to digest," Wilber said. "I think our guy's eyes are wide open and they are ready. We are not down here on a sight-seeing tour. I think this group gets as much joy of playing and competing together as they do out of anything else."

The Tigers entered the tournament knowing one loss could mean the end of the career for each of their five seniors. Now, DWU will play in one final game with the largest prize at stake. The Tigers will take on the winner of No. 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and No. 3 Cornerstone University (Mich.) at 6:03 p.m. on Tuesday.

The game will be streamed live online by ESPN3. Those wishing to view the game will need to log in with their cable information to access the video. The game will not be on the NAIA Network.