SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A season that began as a top-six team and a 13-2 record midway through the year saw a host of injuries riddle the Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team and fill Tiger fans with gloom. However, a Tiger roster and coaching staff that were determined to keep their season going are making their sixth consecutive trip to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship.
The Tigers finished with a 10-7 record in the second half of the season, bringing DWU's final record to 23-9 entering the national tournament. Despite the record in the second half of the season, the Tigers hosted their first Great Plains Athletic Conference Championship game in 10 years, while Ty Hoglund was named the GPAC Player-of-the-Year; the first DWU player since Tate Martin and the seventh Tiger overall to be named player-of-the-year in GPAC history.
DWU kicked off the season with an 8-0 record, its best start to a season since the 2014-15 campaign. The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season at home to then-RV Mount Marty College, but they bounced back to win six of their next seven games.
In the second game of 2020, the Tigers hit the road to battle then-No. 1 Morningside College. During the game, senior Tristan Teichmeier suffered an injury that ended up sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Days after the loss, junior point guard Nick Harden sustained a season-ending injury right before DWU took on then-No. 19 Northwestern College on the road.
The Tigers were scrambling to fill roles on the court with a limited roster outside the senior trio of Hoglund, Samuel McCloud and Collin Kramer. It was the likes of Koln Oppold, Jeffrey Schuch, Mason Larson and Bradley Dean who stepped up when the Tigers needed them the most to carry the load in the back half of the season.
Schuch stepped up in his first opportunity, as he scored a game-high 19 points off the bench to lead DWU past the Red Raiders. Seven days later, without Hoglund on the floor, the shorthanded Tigers downed then-RV Dordt University at home in a 71-70 thriller. McCloud scored a career-high 25 points, as forward Kramer ran point guard to keep DWU in the win column. To keep the winning streak alive, Larson stepped up in another road game, this time with 23 points to lead DWU past Midland University. With a date at the Corn Palace against then-No. 1 Morningside, Dean scored 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor off the bench to aid the Tigers in an upset victory.
Fast-forward to Feb. 19, DWU had a game scheduled with then-RV Northwestern, with a chance to clinch the second seed in the GPAC Tournament. It was Oppold who came alive for a career-high 32 points to guide the Tigers in the win and into the postseason. In the opening round of the GPAC Tournament versus Jamestown, it was the senior duo of Hoglund and Kramer who combined for 58 points to push the Tigers into the GPAC semifinals.
DWU's next opponent, in-state rival Mount Marty, had already beaten the Tigers twice this season, but this time, it was Hoglund and Larson who combined for 55 points to push DWU into the GPAC Championship game. However, the hot streak ended, as the Tigers fell to then-RV Concordia 68-66.
Although the Tigers lost in the GPAC final, they are still poised to make a run this week as they boast arguably one of the grittiest rosters in the national tournament, and it shows on the defensive end. They rank sixth nationally in points allowed per game with 68.5 points allowed per contest. DWU also ranks eighth in the country with 31.2 defensive rebounds per game and have tallied 108 blocks on the season.
The Tigers also hold the GPAC Player-of-the-Year on their roster in Hoglund. He averages 23.1 points per game, good for eighth in the NAIA, while also ranking seventh nationally with 716 points scored this season and 10th nationally with an 86.6% free-throw percentage. If DWU is going to make a push in the national tournament, it has the coaching staff and players with the experience to will the team to victory.