Index of Sports Press Releases

Feb. 22, 2008

Fitzgerald Scores 25 as DWU Sweeps Sioux Falls
By Matt Higgins • The Daily Republic

Colby Fitzgerald

When Dakota Wesleyan University guard Colby Fitzgerald gets hot with his jump shot, it’s usually bad news for the other team.

The University of Sioux Falls was the latest team to find that out as the 19th-ranked Tigers closed the regular season with an 85-65 win over the Cougars Friday at the Corn Palace.

“We struggled the last two games and we knew we needed to get one more win going into the conference tournament,” Fitzgerald said. “We had a great crowd tonight and we wanted to get a win for them and for our seniors. They played great.”

So did Fitzgerald. He came off a screen and buried a mid-range jumper at the halftime buzzer to give DWU a 39-32 lead going into the locker rooms after a competitive first half.

The junior’s jumper didn’t cool off during the break. He drained back-to-back three-pointers out of the locker room and added a layup.

“Colby was great,” said Tigers’ head coach John Hemenway. “That little stretch right there was probably the difference in the game. We had command of the game from there.”

Junior Preston Broughton bookended Fitzgerald’s run with three-point plays, and suddenly the Tigers held a 47-34 lead in a game that was tied at 32-32 late in the first half. Fitzgerald scored 12 straight points for DWU during that stretch.

“Coach just told us to come out and stay confident and knock a couple shots down,” Fitzgerald said.

Despite injuring his ankle in the first half, Broughton took over for the next stretch as the Tigers built their lead, and then the team’s free-throw shooting took over to ice the win. Broughton delivered 13 second-half points and DWU sank its last 18 free-throw attempts to stomp out any delusions the Cougars had of a coming back.

“That is big,” said Tigers’ senior Marcus Vontz. “We are not the greatest free-throw shooting team in the league but we came through tonight and made a bunch in a row.”

USF actually did make one significant second-half run. The Cougars used an 8-0 run to cut a double-digit lead to just seven points at 64-57, but the Tigers answered with a run of their own.

Broughton drove the lane for another three-point play. Marcus Vontz and Fitzgerald each drained two free throws to regain some breathing room, and the Tigers sealed it from the line the rest of the way.

“Preston did a good job of not only getting fouled, but he made the basket, too,” Hemenway said. “Three is always better than two.”

The 20-point margin of victory would have been surprising to anyone who watched just the first 18 minutes. To call the first half closely contested would be an understatement. Until Fitzgerald scored the final four points, the lead seemingly changed hands on every possession. The first half featured five ties and 10 lead changes, including one stretch where there were eight lead changes and a tie on nine possessions.

Ike Muoneke carried DWU through the games early stages on an array of drives to the rim and low-post moves. The junior center scored 12 of the teams first 27 points.

“Ike was really ready to play tonight,” Hemenway said. “He was really charged up. The game meant a lot to Ike tonight and that was great to see.”

Muoneke scored on a drive to put DWU ahead 27-26 and Fitzgerald followed with a three-point play to make it 30-26. Sioux Falls rallied to earn a tie at 32-32, but Broughton muscled inside for one of his many three-point plays and then Fitzgerald closed things out for a 39-32 halftime lead.

“We had that 7-0 run to end the half and I think that sealed the game for us right there,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald finished 11-for-11 from the free-throw line and led all scorers with 25 points. Broughton had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Muoneke finished with 14 points. Andrew Lasche dished out eight assists and Brady Wiebe added eight rebounds.

The Tigers shot 50.9 percent from the floor (28-for-55) and a blistering 86.2 percent (25-for-29) from the charity stripe and held a significant edge (39-29) on the boards.

“We’ve been working a lot on free throws,” Fitzgerald said. “We know that’s always important. We kind of struggled at the beginning of the year. If we’re going to win games down the stretch, that’s what we have to do.”

Tut Yual and Jesse Huser led USF with 13 points apiece and Adam Herther added 11. The Cougars were swept by DWU this season. The Tigers won 64-59 in Sioux Falls on Nov. 20.

The win was extra special for Vontz and Lasche, the team’s two seniors. Friday’s game was Senior Night and both were honored with their parents prior to tip-off.

“It felt great,” Vontz said. “I had some family in the crowd. It was nice to come up with a big win. (Sioux Falls is) a big rivalry and it’s nice to get a sweep this year.”

DWU locked up a first-round bye in the GPAC tournament with the win, and will host a quarterfinal game at the Corn Palace on Thursday at 5 p.m.