Gritty performance guides No. 10 DWU past (RV) Bulldogs

MITCHELL, S.D. – After forcing 18 turnovers and scoring 17 points off turnovers, the No. 10 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team cruised past (RV) Concordia University, 71-50 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup Saturday in the Corn Palace.

 After falling behind by a point, Koln Oppold (Sioux Falls, S.D.) made a 3-pointer to kick off the scoring for DWU.

 The 3-pointers continued to fall as Samuel McCloud (Rapid City, S.D.) threw up an off-balance shot with the shot-clock running down and buried his shot. He found nothing but net on his next attempt as the Tigers (18-5, 10-4 GPAC) opened a 9-4 lead.

 DWU kept up the hustle on both ends as they held the Bulldogs (17-7, 8-6 GPAC) to 10 points, while scoring 20 through the first 10 minutes of the half.

 With 7:11 to play in the half, Ty Hoglund (Dell Rapids, S.D.) drove to the basket and made an off-balanced layup while being fouled. He made the ensuing free throw to give the Tigers a double-digit lead.

 Layups by Oppold, Jeffrey Schuch (Dell Rapids, S.D.) and Collin Kramer (Volga, S.D.) kept DWU ahead by eight points. But a 3-pointer by Mason Larson (Langford, S.D.) ballooned the lead to 11 points with the first half winding down.

 In the opening minutes of the second half, McCloud found Oppold open behind the arc as he drilled his shot. But CUNE strung together an 8-0 run to pull within five points, forcing a DWU timeout.

 The Tigers responded with a 13-2 run to regain control of the game. With just under six minutes to play, Oppold dished the ball to Hoglund who buried a 3-point basket to push the lead to 19 points.

 McCloud pushed the lead over 20 points for the first time in the game with a layup and a free throw with 1:50 to play. Moments later, McCloud launched another 3-pointer and made the shot to put an exclamation point on the night as the Tigers handled the Bulldogs.

 Hoglund led the team with 20 points, as Oppold added 17 points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc, along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals. McCloud chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds, while Kramer and Larson notched 16 points combined.

 DWU outscored the Bulldogs 28-8 in the paint, while finishing with 32 rebounds. The Tigers shot 47.3% from the field and 45.8% from 3-point range.

 The Tigers travel to take on Briar Cliff University at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in Sioux City, Iowa.