Men’s basketball plays final road game of the season

MITCHELL, S.D. – In their final road game of the season, the No. 16 Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team is looking to bounce back after a midweek loss as they take on Concordia University in a Great Plains Athletic Conference tilt at 6 p.m. tomorrow in Seward, Neb.

 DWU is hoping to return to the win column following a 10-point loss to No. 9 Morningside College on Wednesday. Nick Harden (Chicago, Ill.) had his best game of the season as he poured in 31 points on 11-of-26 shooting from the floor.

 In the first matchup of the season between the Tigers and Bulldogs, DWU came away with a 70-64 victory at the Corn Palace in January. The Tigers outscored Concordia 33-32 in the first half and 37-32 in the second frame.

 Jeffrey Schuch (Dell Rapids, S.D.) scored a game-high 20 points and snagged five rebounds, while Harden added 17 points, five assts and four steals. Neither team shot the ball well from downtown as DWU finished 14.3% from 3-point range, while Concordia shot at a 25% clip from beyond the arc. The biggest differences in the first meeting was that DWU outscored the Bulldogs 44-26 in the paint and scored 19 points off 13 Concordia turnovers.

 Both teams are near the top in the GPAC in defensive play. DWU still leads the conference allowing 70.4 points per game, while Concordia is third in the GPAC allowing 72.8 points per contest. Harden looks to continue his impressive play as he averages 17.2 points per outing, while ranking 10^th nationally with 45 steals this season. He also averages 2.4 steals per game, good for 19^th in the NAIA.

The Coaches

 Head coach Matt Wilber is in his eighth season as the head coach for the Tigers. He has coached 26 All-GPAC Team members and 13 NAIA All-American selections in his time at DWU.

 Ben Limback is in his eighth season with the Concordia Bulldogs. He led the Bulldogs to a conference championship and a trip to the national tournament a season ago.

The Series

 Dakota Wesleyan leads the all-time series played with a record of 29-12. The last time the Tigers lost at Concordia was during the 2016-17 season in a 95-79 ballgame.

Scouting the Concordia Bulldogs

 Concordia enters the game with a 14-8 overall record after losing at Dordt University, 75-69 on Wednesday. The Bulldogs are a threat shooting the ball from deep as the rank sixth in the NAIA with 229 made 3-pointers this season. They also rank 15^th nationally with 337 assists this year and are 18^th in the country with 1,782 points scored this year.

 Gage Smith is a rebounding machine as he ranks seventh in the nation with 202 rebounds this year and averages 9.2 rebounds per game. Justin Wiersema leads the team in scoring as he averages 16.7 points per game and ranks 24^th nationally with 368 points scored on the year. He also leads the team with 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals per contest.

 For fans not able to attend the game, you can stream the game online with stats at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cun/. You can also listen to Tim Smith and Bob Sprang with the call at 105.9 FM or online at kmit.com.