MITCHELL, S.D. – The No. 10 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team hosted Great Plains Athletic Conference foe, Hastings College at the Corn Palace on Wednesday and fell short, 73-64.
The Broncos (12-10, 5-7 GPAC) jumped out to an early 8-3 lead thanks to sharp 3-point shooting and a made layup. Minutes later, a Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) 3-pointer and a Mason Larson (Langford, S.D.) layup tied the game at 8-8.
With seven minutes left to play in the half, Koln Oppold (Sioux Falls, S.D.) jammed a dunk home and was fouled on the play to tie the game at 21-21. Hastings went on a 14-6 run to close out the first half to push their lead to 35-28.
Larson started the second half with a bang as he converted on a dunk to cut the Tiger deficit to just five points, one minute into the half.
The Broncos went on a 15-7 run in a four-minute span which resulted in them taking a 50-37 lead with 15 minutes to play in the game.
DWU cut their deficit to just four points with just under six minutes left to go in the game thanks to a pair of Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) free throws, followed by a layup.
However, this is the closest they would get as they struggled to find the bottom of the basket down the stretch, and Hastings went on a 10-0 run to finish the game.
Oppold paced the scoring for the Tigers as he recorded a double-double, scoring 24 points and snatching 10 rebounds. Hoglund tallied 13 points and three rebounds.
The Tigers were held to 40% shooting from the field and 22.2% from the 3-point stripe. Hastings shot 51% from the field and 47.4% from the 3-point line.
DWU stays home as they welcome the Jamestown Jimmies for a GPAC tilt at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Corn Palace.
