Tiger men drop regular-season home finale to Dordt in overtime
· Yahoo Sports
Feb. 19—MITCHELL — Another night at the Corn Palace brought more drama than the Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team bargained for on Wednesday night.
In the Tigers' regular-season home finale, DWU found themselves locked in yet another nail-biter, trading blows possession after possession before ultimately coming up a point short in a 92-91 overtime loss to Dordt.
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It was a high-scoring affair for the Tigers' Senior Night, as Dakota Wesleyan couldn't quite deliver the finishing touches in the extra period and Dordt made enough plays down the stretch to escape Mitchell with the one-point road victory.
Coming into Wednesday night's matchup, both Dordt and DWU had the same record at 14-12 and an even 9-9 mark in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Now, with the loss, the Tigers drop to the No. 7 spot in the GPAC standings at 14-13 and 9-10 in the league, while the Defenders take the No. 5 spot at 15-12 and 10-9 in conference play.
Despite the loss, Dakota Wesleyan head coach Sam Nicholson said he was proud of the way his team fought through all 45 minutes of the contest.
"We've seen that we continue to battle no matter what," Nicholson said. "They just stay the course, believe in each other and love each other. And that gets you a lot more production than people think about. I never think we are out of a game because of that but at the same time, we got to pay attention to the details and take pride in taking away what the opponents are trying to do."
After a back-and-forth 38 minutes of game time, Tigers' Anthony Riggans made a pair of free throws with 1:36 remaining in regulation to take a 79-78 advantage before Dordt's Steven Poulicek drilled a critical 3-point shot in the left corner to take a two-point lead. On the ensuing possession, Riggans made a contested right-handed layup with 55 seconds left to tie it up at 81-all.
Then, the Defenders had two offensive rebounds and three chances to take the lead, and the potential game-winning 3-pointer, but missed each field-goal attempt to send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Steele Morgan hit a big 3-pointer to give the Tigers a two-point lead with two minutes left at 88-86. But the Defenders answered the home momentum right away with two crucial layups to take a 90-88 edge with 16 seconds left in overtime. Dakota Wesleyan had a chance to take the lead or tie it up, but turned the ball over along the baseline and Dordt's Dylon Schaap made two clutch free throws to take a four-point lead with 2.7 seconds remaining.
At the overtime buzzer, DWU's Oliver Vincent banked in a half-court shot to make it a one-point victory for the visiting Defenders.
Dordt was 4-for-6 from the field in the overtime frame and held DWU to 3-for-8 shooting, while converting 3-of-4 attempts at the free-throw line to seal the win.
In the first half, Dordt earned a 44-39 lead behind 53.3% shooting from the field and an 8-of-12 mark from 3-point range. For the game, the Defenders shot 51.5% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc.
Morgan matched his career-high in points with 26 in the effort on 10-for-14 shooting, plus six rebounds and four assists to lead the way for the Tigers. After missing two games due to a lower body injury, Anthony Riggans made his way back into the starting lineup and offered 22 points on a perfect 8-for-8 mark at the free-throw line, plus seven rebounds and three steals.
Tyson Stevenson had 13 points on a trio of 3-pointers, while Oliver Vincent recorded 11 points and five assists and Easton Neuendorf added 11 points, tallying five Tigers in double-figure scoring. Dakota Wesleyan had 24 assists on 32 made field goals and a mark of 49.2% shooting from the field, while going 16-for-18 at the free-throw line.
The GPAC's seventh-highest scorer in points per game, Dordt's Connor Millikan, offered a game-high 28 points on 12-for-23 shooting, plus eight rebounds and three assists to lead the Defenders. Ty Van Essen had 23 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for a double-double, as Dordt held a slight rebounding advantage over DWU 34-30.
There were 17 lead changes and seven ties throughout the contest, including the overtime period. The largest lead at any point in the game came from Dordt with 18:12 left in the second half at nine points, while DWU held its largest advantage early in the first half at seven points.
DWU will cap off its regular-season schedule with a matchup against Northwestern (Iowa) at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, in Orange City, Iowa. The GPAC tournament bracket matchups will be released on Saturday night after the conclusion of the men's games around the league. The GPAC tournament will begin on Wednesday, Feb. 25.
"In Year 1 as a coach, I am fully confident that we're kind of where we need to be," Nicholson said. "The culture is rock solid. Our guys are rock solid, and we're gonna go in there (at Northwestern) and compete our butts off. We're going to get our thinking caps on these next two days and try to compose a gameplan to win."
NOTES: Randy Rosenquist Jr. was recognized pregame for reaching his 1,000th career point for DWU during the Tigers' previous contest against Mount Marty on Feb. 14 in Yankton.