VALLEY CITY, N.D. — Dakota Wesleyan Men’s Basketball traveled to North Dakota to face the Valley City State Vikings in the second matchup of their home-and-home out-of-conference series.
The Tigers and Vikings kept close pace for a majority of the contest, trading big-time shots in the early portion of the game. Anthony Riggans kicked things off for the Tigers with a three-pointer enroute to posting 12 points alongside two boards and an assist. At the same time, Tyson Stevenson surged to a 16-point performance, along with five boards, two assists, and a steal to give DWU added firepower.
The leading scorer for DWU on the day, however, was true freshman Easton Neuendorf, who posted 18 total points while contributing six total assists, adding a few of his baskets in the first bit of the game. Randy Rosenquist Jr. made his presence known on the boards, leading DWU with eight in total, while also posting five points, three assists, and three steals. Dakota Wesleyan was able to go a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line while recording 13 points off turnovers to give them the advantage in a contest where every point was crucial, taking a 33-31 lead into the half.
The second half followed a similar pace to the first, with DWU and VCSU able to find points on either end of the floor. However, both teams were able to sustain longer scoring runs, creating bigger swings in momentum as the game progressed. The defenses tightened down later into the game, with the Vikings outrebounding the Tigers 39-32, but the offensive opportunities both in the paint and off the bench provided a different angle on the scoring attack.
Andrew Younan had a notable performance with 13 points on 5-10 (50%) shooting from the field and a 3-6 (50%) clip from the three-point range, while Noah Oberfeld posted seven boards in the paint and off the bench. The Vikings found late momentum, leading the Tigers 55-48 with six minutes remaining, but a final push from the Tigers put them back in the game.
Neuendorf posted two three-point shots and a made free throw to quickly tie the contest back up at 55-55, and while the Vikings found a few more points, the Tigers were successfully able to close out the comeback thanks to clutch shots from Stevenson and Younan. Neuendorf and Riggans sealed the deal by both making their free throws, giving the Tigers a multiple-possession lead and eventual final score, 65-59.
DWU Men’s Basketball will be back in action at Bismarck State on Monday, December 29th at 6:00 pm.