Mitchell, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan Men’s basketball hosted the V-Hawks of Viterbo University this evening in the final non-conference game of the season. The Tigers jumped out to a massive lead at half, up 48-33 after shooting nearly 50% from the field. The V-Hawks were able to slow DWU’s offense down and went to work. The Tigers lost their lead with 3:24 remaining and were unable to regain it. Jakob Dobney led the Tigers with 24 points in the loss.

Highlighted Player – Jakob Dobney 24 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists

Stat Leaders:

Points – Jakob Dobney (24)

Assists – Jakob Dobney (6)

Rebounds – Blaze Lubbers (9)

Blocks – Samuel Aslesen (2)

Recap –

The Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball team came back to Mitchell after being on Christmas break and looked to get a win to start off the new year. The Tigers scored the first bucket of the contest with a Jakob Dobney triple and traded buckets with Viterbo’s offense. In his first start of the season, Nick Wittler made the most of it. Wittler re-entered the game after DWU’s ran some substitutes and banged a pair of threes and converted the and one to give the Tigers a 13-point lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the first half. DWU moved the ball well, as the point guard’s found holes in the V-Hawks defense. The Tigers moved the ball so well, they had 14 assists on 18 made baskets, eleven of those were three points. As the half began to tick down to the final seconds, Wittler would hit his third three pointer of the night, improving the offense’s shooting percentage to 49% in the first half. The first half was a clean competitive game of basketball, only seeing eight turnovers between the two teams and 11 total fouls. The two squads battled for the boards, and each had 18 going into the break where the Tigers had the lead up to 15 points, 48-33. Dobney had 18 points and Wittler was close behind with 10 points.

The second half was a dog fight as the V-Hawks went after the Tigers’ lead. Randy Rosenquist Jr. opened the second half for the Tigers with his only three pointer from the top of the arc to bump the lead out to 16. Viterbo was only able to score a few layups before a pair of three points from Samuel Aslesen and Wittler put the Tigers up big with 17:33 left on the scoreboard. DWU had their biggest lead of the night at 23 points as the offense just kept raining down three pointers. Diang Gatluak drilled a right wing three to get his eighth point of the game. It was at this point the V-Hawks had enough and flipped a switch. The Tigers would be outscored 33-9 in eleven minutes when Viterbo grabbed their first lead in the second half. Turnovers plagued the Tigers as they committed five in the second half, three in the final three minutes. Viterbo took advantage of those turnovers as well as converted several and one buckets down the stretch. Blaze Lubbers came in clutch at the 1:36 mark as he hit his first three pointer to cut the lead to two points. The V-Hawks jumped back out to a four-point lead after a costly turnover by the Tigers. Lubber’s second three pointer came just before the final buzzer and made the game a one-point contest that the Tigers would lose, 90-89. Dobney scored 24 points for DWU followed by Aslesen and Gatluak with 14 apiece. This was the final non-conference game of the year for the Tigers.

Up Next for the Tigers –

The Tigers hit the road on January 6th as they travel to take on the Bulldogs of Concordia University. Tipoff is set for 3:45 PM.

(www.dwu.edu)