THREE POINT SHOOTING WAS THE DIFFERENCE IN THE GAME AS THE DWU MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM PICKS UP BIG WIN ON THE ROAD
Orange City, Iowa – Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball picks up a big win in the rescheduled game against Northwestern Monday night on the road. Shooting 26.7% beyond the arc better than the Raiders, the Tigers hold off the late push to earn the win.
The Quick Details
Score:
DWU 64 – NWC 63
Records:
DWU 12-11 (GPAC 8-7)
NWC 16-7 ( GPAC 9-6)
How It Happened
Dakota Wesleyan was off to a hot start in the Monday night matchup, jumping out a three-point lead early after a pair of baskets from Koln Oppold and Diang Gatluak. Once the Raiders took the lead at 9-7 just three minutes into play, DWU had to battle on the boards to keep the score close. It wasn't until nearly five minutes in, the Tigers regained the lead over NWC, 11-9. Both teams went scoreless for the following two-minutes of play, but Northwestern broke the streak with a layup to tie the game again at 11-11. DWU's cold spell lasted another three minutes allowing the Raiders to push their lead to 17-14 with ten-minutes to play in the first half. After nearly another four minutes of play went by before the Tigers recorded another basket and now trailing NWC, 23-15 with just over six and a half minutes to play. DWU was able to close the margin a little bit with three minutes to play in the half as they hit back-to-back shots beyond the arc from Jakob Dobney and Samuel Aslesen dropping the margin to five points, 29-24. With just under a minute to play, Dobney hit another three-point shot, as DWU trailed 31-27 heading into the locker room for halftime.
After several long runs by the Raiders, in the first half, they were slow to get going in the second. The Tigers on the other hand, hit the opening shot of the half, then got a quick steal from Kallan Herman who assisted the Gatluak dunk tying the game at 31-31. DWU continued with the quick momentum shift, getting out to a three-point lead just two minutes into the half. Northwestern continued to keep the DWU lead small as both the Raiders and Tigers were hitting key shots. With 12:45 to play in regulation, NWC grabbed their first lead of the half at 46-44. Northwestern was able to hand onto the lead till Aslesen set DWU back on top by one, 52-51 with nine minutes to play. After more back and forth from both teams, NWC climbed into a 61-59 lead with just over three minutes to go. Oppold knotted the game at 61-61 shortly after, starting a brief five-point run putting DWU ahead by three. With under a minute to play, DWU ahead by three, the Raiders close in with a layup cutting the margin to one point, 64-63 with 47-seconds to play. The final two shots of the game were from beyond the arc, but NWC missed both giving the Tigers the one-point win.
Neither the Tigers or Raiders shot over 40% from the field in the game, DWU was shooting significantly better that NWC beyond the arc, 38.2% to 11.5% from distance to be exact. DWU grabbed 43 rebounds and seven steals. Over the entire game, the Tigers only led for 10:55 of it or around 27.3%.
Beyond the Results
- Kallan Herman: 22 points, 57.1 FG%, 66.6 3-pt%, and three assists
- Koln Oppold: 15 points, 42.8 FG%, 50 3-pt%, 50 FT%, seven rebounds, and four assists
- Jakob Dobney: 15 points, 50 FG%, 42.8 3-pt%, 50 FT%, seven rebounds, three assists, and three blocks
Up Next
The Tigers have another quick turnaround before a week off. DWU will be back in action Wednesday, February 1 when they welcome the University of Jamestown to the Corn Palace for a 7:45 p.m. tip-off.