Sioux Center, Iowa – Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball suffers a big hit on the road after outscoring the Defenders of Dordt 14-0 on second chance points and 27-11 off the bench.
The Quick Details
Score:
DWU 74 – DOR 77
Records:
DWU 5-6 (GPAC 3-3)
DOR 11-2 (GPAC 4-2)
How It Happened
Dakota Wesleyan got off to a slow start on the road Saturday evening, falling behind 12-7 to the Defenders. Nick Wittler entered the game just seconds before hitting a three-pointer setting the Tigers within two-points of tying the game. Koln Oppold was able to hit the jump shot on the next trip down the floor to tie the game at 12-12 with 14:38 left to play in the first half. Junior transfer Diang Gatluak gave DWU their first lead of the game with a shot from deep in his first few minutes of play in a Tiger uniform for the first time this season. Gatluak's second shot of the game was another three-pointer giving DWU a two-point lead. As the 10-minute mark of the first half arrived the Tigers were leading the Defenders 20-16, but after Blaze Lubbers hit both free throws, that lead was extended to 22-16. Dordt hit some key shots cutting the Dakota Wesleyan lead to only three with just over seven-minutes to play. The Tigers held the lead up till five and a half minutes to play when Dordt grabbed a one-point lead making the Tigers take a 30-second timeout. Once play resumed, Kallan Herman put DWU back on top by two, 29-27 after a shot from deep, followed by another one thanks to back-to-back offensive rebounds by Jakob Dobney. The next four DWU baskets came off Gatluak shots propelling the Tigers to a 42-33 lead. Dordt ended the half with a layup followed by an and-one shot, cutting the lead at halftime to 42-36.
Starting the second half, DWU held their lead right away by as much as eight points after Herman hit a three-pointer just three-minutes in. The Defenders knotted the game at 52-52 just five minutes into the half after an and-one shot. Gatluak quickly put DWU back up by two-points after converting on both free throws. Over the next several minutes, the game went back and forth as the Tigers grabbed a two-point lead, the Defenders tied it up. Dakota Wesleyan grabbed a four-point lead, 58-54 after Lubbers made a layup with 13:14 left in the game. Both teams then went cold for nearly two-minutes until Herman made a shot beyond the arc pushing the Tigers lead to 61-54. Nearing 10-minutes to play in the game, Dordt climbed back within one point, 61-60 on a layup. Dobney assisted on the three-point shot from Herman pushing the margin back to four-points. The Defenders knotted the game once again with eight-minutes to play at 64-64 after making a pair of free throws. Dordt grabbed a one-point lead as the final six-minutes showed on the game clock, making a jump shot for the 68-67 lead over DWU. Gatluak tied the game at 70-70 with three and a half minutes to go making one-of-two shots at the foul line. Lubbers put the Tigers back on top 72-70, but it was short lived as Dordt tied it back up at 72-72 on the next shot. The Defenders made another shot as the two-minute mark neared to lead 74-72 forcing a full timeout from DWU. Dakota Wesleyan continued to hang in the game with under a minute to play. With 12-seconds to go on the clock, Dordt leading by three, 77-74, the Tigers take a full timeout to draw up one last play. Wittler missed his bonus free throw holding the margin at three; Koln Oppold missed his three-point shot to tie the game, and the final shot of the game was taken by Wittler but didn't fall as DWU fell on the road 77-74.
Overall, the Tigers shot 40.6 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent beyond the arc. Dordt was held to shooting only 21.1 percent beyond the arc while outshooting the Tigers from the field, going 52.4 percent. DWU outrebounded the Dordt 44-34 in the game and outscored the Defenders on second chance points 14-0.
Beyond the Results
- Diang Gatuak: 21 points, 58.3 FG%, 80 3-pt%, 60 FT%, and 10 rebounds
- Kallan Herman: 17 points, 60 FG%, and 62.5 3-pt%
- Blaze Lubbers: 10 points, eight rebounds, and two assists
- Koln Oppold: five assists
Up Next
Dakota Wesleyan has one more GPAC game left in the 2022 calendar year. The Tigers will head south again to take on Northwestern on Thursday, December 15 with a 7:45 p.m. tip-off time.