Mitchell, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball had a night in the Corn Palace to open their home schedule. It wasn't short on action or excitement as DWU, and Doane went to overtime giving all fans in attendance some free basketball while four different DWU players recorded double-digit points and Koln Oppold went for a new career high 34-points.
The Quick Details
Score:
DWU 85 – DOA 77 (OT)
Records:
DWU 4-5 (GPAC 2-2)
DOA 5-5 (GPAC 3-2)
How It Happened
Dakota Wesleyan was off and running early in the game against Doane with Jakob Dobney opening the scoring with a shot from beyond the arc. After a pair of layups from D'Andre Dennis and Dobney, Doane called for a 30-second timeout as they trailed 9-2. Doane quickly closed the margin to one point after the timeout as 15-minutes remaining in the first half approached. The DWU Tigers continued to lead through eight minutes played as Nick Wittler and Samuel Aslesen got in on the scoring to hold a three-point lead, 16-13. Doane got their first lead of the game with 11:13 remaining in the first half, 20-18 on a shot beyond the arc before collecting on a layup one possession later to lead 22-19 over Dakota Wesleyan. Oppold put DWU back in the lead with back-to-back three-point shots, 25-22 forcing Doane to take a full timeout with 9:43 to play in the first. With the first half starting to dwindle, and several ties later, Dakota Wesleyan trailed Doane, 33-28 as DWU called for their first 30-second timeout of the half. Kallan Herman put the Tigers within six points of tying the game with three-minutes to go after hitting a shot from deep. Aslesen collected on the final basket for either team before the halftime horn sounded, but DWU continued to trail 44-37 heading to the locker room.
Dakota Wesleyan opened the second half cutting their deficit to five-points right away after Herman made one-of-two free throws and Lubbers made a shot beyond the arc within the first minute and a half. Oppold put the Tigers within two points of tying the game, 46-44 after another deep basket on the next possession; before getting the jump shot to fall a minute later knotting the game at 46-46 with 17:17 to go in regulation. Oppold continued to stay hot, making the following 11 DWU points giving the Tigers a 57-48 lead over Doane in the battle of the tigers. Oppold wasn't done there, he continued to make shots for the Tigers till the 11:41 mark when Alan Kikwaki joined the action making a layup as Dakota Wesleyan continues to lead Doane, 61-53. Doane asked for a 30-second timeout shortly after with just under 11-minutes to play in regulation and both DWU and DOA made substitutions. Doane slowly started closing in on the Tigers lead, cutting it to three-points with eight and a half minutes to play. Aslesen pushed the margin back to five-points, 65-60 converting on a pair of foul shots as Wilber called for a full timeout. With under five-minutes to play, Doane sliced the margin to only two-points in favor of Dakota Wesleyan, before Dennis pushes it to three making one-of-two foul shots. Heading into the final two-minutes of play, the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers led by two, 70-68, but was erased just 48-seconds later when Doane knotted things at 70-70 forcing the DWU Tigers to call for a full timeout. With under one-minute to play in regulation; Oppold put the Tigers ahead by two, 72-70 converting on both foul shots, but when the clock showed 27-seconds left in regulation, Doane made a jump shot tying the game once again, this time at 72-72 as DWU called timeout with 19-seconds to play in regulation. Dennis entered the game after the timeout, but it was Oppold who was called upon for what was the final shot of regulation as fans received some free basketball at the Corn Palace.
Five-minutes went on the clock and once it started counting down; it was all Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers as they outscored Doane 13-5, starting with Dobney hitting a three-pointer for the 75-72 lead. Kikwaki followed that with a layup, handing DWU a five-point lead, 77-72. With 2:12 to play in overtime, Doane made one free throw cutting the Tigers lead to four, before Oppold set DWU back to a six-point lead at 79-73. On the defensive end of the floor, Oppold was fouled on the rebound, sending him to the foul line and a chance to extend the lead, which he was able to do forcing Doane to burn a full timeout with 1:18 to play before hitting his second foul shot giving DWU an 81-73 lead. DWU secured the win in the battle of the tigers as Lubbers made both foul shots with 14-seconds to play.
Over the 45-minutes of basketball, DWU shot 45% from the floor and 33.3% beyond the arc, while making 69% of their free throws. Doane on the other hand shot 50.8% from the field, 23.8% from distance, and 72.7% at the foul line. The DWU Tigers out-rebounded Doane 37-32 while scoring five points on second chances. Dakota Wesleyan forced 10 Doane turnovers to score 10 points, while Doane forced eight DWU turnovers to score only six points. Dakota Wesleyan scored 26 points in the paint, two fastbreak points, and the bench chipped in with 19 points. The DWU Tigers largest deficit was in the first half with 1:21 to play as they trailed by 10, but their largest lead was in the second half with 15:02 to play at nine points. Overall, the game had seven ties and six lead changes.
Beyond The Results
- Koln Oppold: 34 points, 55 FG%, 55 3-pt%, 77.7 FT%, 11 rebounds, six assists, one steal, and one block
- Blaze Lubbers: 12 points, 50 FG%, 75 FT%, and four assists
- Jakob Dobney: 12 points, 44.4 FG%, 50 FT%, and four assists
- Samuel Aslesen: 11 points, 60 FG%, and 4-for-4 FT
Up Next
Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball is back in action tomorrow from the Corn Palace as they welcome the 8-1 overall Broncos of Hastings College. The Tigers and Broncos will tip-off at 2:45 p.m..
