Mitchell, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball team pulled off the upset over No. 17 ranked Mustangs of Morningside University, 90-86. Four tigers scored in double figures led by Jakob Dobney and Samuel Aslesen with 21 points each. Blaze Lubbers came up big on both ends of the court with 13 rebounds, five of them offensive, three steals, and a big block in the closing minutes of the game. Randy Rosenquists Jr. and Ethan Determan contributed 17 and 13 points respectively.
Highlighted Player – Jakob Dobney 21 points, five assists, three steals, one block, 11-14 from the free throw line
Stat Leaders:
Points – Jakob Dobney, Samuel Aslesen (21)
Assists – Jakob Dobney, Randy Rosenquist Jr. (5)
Rebounds – Blaze Lubbers (13)
Blocks – Samuel Aslesen (2)
Recap – After dropping two straight games to start the new year, the Tigers were hungry for a big win. The No. 17 ranked Mustangs rolled into Mitchell with a 6-1 GPAC record, with their only loss coming from Jamestown earlier in the season. The two offenses both sank a pair of triples to open the contest and Jakob Dobney made a set of early free throws as the score was knotted up at eight a piece only two minutes into the game. It did not take much longer for the Tiger offense to find their groove as they went on a nine-point run in less than two minutes. In that span of two minutes, Blaze Lubbers ripped down four rebounds, two of them being offensive boards, giving DWU some second chance points up on the score board. This run forced a Morningside timeout as the Tigers had the momentum.
As the teams came out of the 30-second timeout, the Tigers offense just kept draining shots. Samuel Aslesen and Lubbers each swished a three-point bucket and Ethan Determan went to the charity stripe after being fouled on his three-point attempt and drilled all three tries to put the Tigers up by double digits. The Mustangs started to run into their offense a little more, but DWU had the answer for each of their buckets, as they held on to a double-digit lead at 7:09 when Head Coach Matt Wilber decided to call a timeout. DWU would score 49 first half points, the most they have scored in a first half all season. DWU shot 50% from the field as they went into the locker room up by nine at the break. Aslesen led the team with his big 14 points and Lubbers already had seven rebounds to his name.
As the two teams came out to battle in the second half, the Mustangs grabbed some momentum and opened the half with a big run. Kallan Herman would get the scoring started for the Tigers in the second half with a three-point bucket just above the left corner. This would be one of the only buckets the Tigers would score for the next eight minutes as the offense went into a slump, missing seven shots in the and turned the ball over three times in the seven-minute stretch. The Mustangs put up 21 points on the Tigers in that stretch and had taken over with a five-point lead before they called a timeout.
The Tigers need to get back into the game, after coming up empty handed throughout the second half. The Tigers found themselves in a hole, trailing by 10 points with less than eight minutes remaining and they needed points quick. Dobney went to the free throw line and started to chip away at the Mustang lead, but it wasn’t quite enough. Freshman star Randy Rosenquist Jr. would come down on three possessions and drill deep three-point shots to give his team the lead with 3:29 minutes left on the clock. With the lead, DWU went to work on the defensive end of the court, especially Lubbers. Blaze would grab three steals in the second half and send a layup attempt across the court to prevent an easy bucket. In the final 60 seconds of play, the teams saw some crazy action.
The Tigers picked up a technical foul and were just a split second too late on a block and called for goal tending, giving the Mustangs a glimmer of hope for a comeback. However, Aslesen, Dobney, and Rosenquist had ice in their veins as they made eight of eight free throw attempts in the final minute of play. The Tigers would come out on top, 90-86 in the upset victory over the No. 17 Mustangs. Four of the Tigers would score in double figures led my Dobney and Aslesen with 21 points each. DWU outrebounded the Mustangs 35 to 34 and forced Morningside to throw 12 turnovers.
Up Next for the Tigers –
DWU will be on the road next week as they travel to Dordt to face off against the Defenders. Game time is set for 7:45 p.m. on January 17th.