Fremont, Neb. – The DWU Men’s basketball team struggled on the road this afternoon against the Warriors of Midland University. Jakob Dobney scored a team high 15 points for the Tigers. Freshman Ethan Determan came off the bench and contributed 14 pts and three boards. Midland outscored the Tigers 44-28 in the paint and held DWU’s offense to 33% shooting from the floor.
Highlighted Player – Jakob Dobney 15 pts, 2 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk
Stat Leaders:
Points – Jakob Dobney (15)
Assists – Samuel Aslesen, Jakob Dobney (2)
Rebounds – Samuel Aslesen (8)
Blocks – Samuel Aslesen (3)
Recap – The Tigers started the game hot on defense, as three separate DWU players picked up at least one blocked shot in the opening five minutes. The Tigers offense looked to their perimeter shooting and only scored one triple until Kaden Year came off the bench and ended the Warriors 8-0 run as he scored an easy lay up with 13:45 remaining on the clock. The Midland Warriors were going to the paint and midrange jump shots against the Tigers zone defense as they maintained the lead through the start of the first half. Ethan Determan came off the bench and converted the tough and-one lay-in to score the classic three-point play to cut the Warrior lead to four points midway through the first half. Determan was getting flashy as he came down the floor and put the defender into a blender and scored his fifth point of the game. Determan’s defense forced a bad Warrior shot and as the Tigers came down the floor, Determan was the trail man and splashed the fast break triple to force Midland to take a timeout as DWU trailed 17-13. The Tigers zone defense proved to be difficult to score against late in the first half as DWU forced tough shots and turnovers for Midland. Aslesen would be sent to the free throw line to cut the Warrior lead to a single point with 6:34 remaining. Samuel Aslesen was a dog on the defensive side of the court as he had three blocks in the first half to keep the Tigers within one possession of the Warriors. Jakob Dobney scored his seventh point on a slick crossover move and he drilled a three-pointer to chip into the lead at the four-minute mark. As the DWU offense looked for a spark, Kaden Year drilled a three-pointer to make it a one possession game with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. The Warriors would score a bucket with 28 seconds remaining and the Tigers were unable to score before the first half buzzer to be trailing 31-28 at halftime.
After a quiet first half, Randy Rosenquist Jr. scored his only bucket of the game to open the scoring in the second half. After trailing for most of the game, Blaze Lubbers would hit lead changing bucket for the Tigers, making it 34-33 DWU. The lead didn’t last long as the Warriors would score back-to-back layups and got their lead back. After a Coach Wilber timeout, the Tigers offense found open lanes for Oliver Vincent and Determan, making it 38-37 Tigers. the two offenses traded a bucket a piece to make the score tied up at 40 with 12:30 to go. Aslesen went to the line for a pair of free throws after the Warriors committed their 7th team foul and Sam converted the free shots to make it a one-point game once again in the contest after Midland had gone up by three. Midland would go to the paint to get the lead back out to five, as they scored 44 of their points in the paint. Lubbers would hit his second three pointer to cut it back to a two-point game with over seven minutes left on the scoreboard. Freshman Determan was doing everything he could to keep the Tigers in it as he scored his 12th point on a baseline jumper to keep it a four-point game with less than four minutes remaining. In the next possession the Warriors were sent to the free throw line to grab their biggest lead of the game so far, six points, before Coach Wilber called a timeout. As the teams came out of the timeout, Midland would score two tough buckets on the Tigers and extended the lead out to double digits for the first time in the game and forced another DWU timeout. Jakob Dobney wasn’t going to quit and scored a nice spin around jumper but then lost the ball on his next drive and the Warriors converted the turnover to make it a ten-point game again. With less than two minutes remaining, DWU looked to score and make the game close but were unable to hit a desperation triple, but the Tigers controlled the offensive rebound. Even with the extra chance, the Tigers were unable to score and Midland would grab the board and run out the time.
The Tigers shot 33% from the floor and only hit five of their three-point attempts. Midland outrebounded the DWU 41-30 in the contest and shot an efficient 49% from the floor, a majority of the shots taken within twelve feet of the basket. The Tigers would lose 67-57 in their lowest scoring game of the season.
Up Next for the Tigers –
DWU will be back in action Wednesday December 6th as they travel to take on the No. 13 Red Raiders of Northwestern. The game is set to take place at 7:45 p.m.