MITCHELL, S.D. — Dakota Wesleyan Men’s Basketball squared off against the Valley City State Vikings in an out-of-conference contest at the World’s Only Corn Palace.
The Tigers and the Vikings kicked off the contest in high gear, with both squads showing off their offensive capabilities. Dakota Wesleyan was led out of the gate by Steele Morgan with a field goal and a three-point basket to kick off the scoring effort. Morgan ended up being the leading scorer for the Tigers in an efficient outing, going 8-10 (80%) from the field and posting a career-high 26 points, along with two boards in the paint. True freshman Easton Neuendorf got involved early as well with a pair of free throws to begin his game, which ended with seven points along with eight assists, which led the team. Dakota Wesleyan found themselves with the early advantage through the first chunk of the game and continued to put the pressure on Valley City State, which has been able to outpace teams for the beginning portion of the season.
Off the bench, DWU found contributions from Andrew Younan and Gavyn Strand, but the Vikings continued to fight their way back into the contest and eventually closed the gap on the Tigers with Dakota Wesleyan taking a two-point 48-46 lead into the half. The Tigers outshot the Vikings in the first half and found a lot of points on fastbreaks, outpacing VCSU 15-11 in the category by the end of the contest.
The close contest continued into the second half with the Vikings fully establishing themselves back in the game. Even so, the Tigers found more offensive contributions from the rest of the starting lineup. Randy Rosenquist Jr. led the team with five rebounds in a 12-point scoring effort, while Anthony Riggans found open shots from the field en route to a 20-point contribution. Riggans also went 4-9 (44.4%) from beyond the arc. Tyson Stevenson made some noise as the Vikings continued to apply pressure, posting 14 points on a 5-12 (41.7%) clip from the field. The back-and-forth affair continued on both sides until just under the 12-minute mark, when Valley City State put together a big scoring run to take the lead for the first time in the game and eventually extended it to a six-point, 66-60 scoreline.
The Tigers quickly battled back to cut the lead down to one possession, but VCSU was able to keep pace, even with the offensive momentum DWU was piecing together. With just under five minutes to play, the Tigers reclaimed the lead with a crucial three from Neuendorf, and even after an immediate Viking response, a tough layup from Morgan and the made free throw after a foul at the basket gave the Tigers an 82-81 lead with just 2:42 left to play. Both teams continued to trade points, however, eventually leading to a late 86-84 lead for the Vikings with just 15 seconds to go. A final shot attempt did not land for the Tigers, and a foul gave VCSU free throw attempts to take the game by a score of 88-84.
DWU Men’s Basketball will open conference play on the road against the Hastings Broncos on Saturday, November 15th, at 3:45 PM.