Index of Sports Press Releases

Mar. 5, 2008

DWU Men Draw Aquinas College in NAIA Tournament Opener

MITCHELL, S.D. — The official bracket for the 2008 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament has been released and the Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball team will play the 16th-seed Aquinas College (Mich.) in the first round.

Tip-off for DWU’s opening round game is set for 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, March 12 at Keeter Gymnasium at the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo.

The Tigers enter the tournament with a 24-8 overall record and were ranked No. 16 in the final NAIA II poll. Wesleyan is led by GPAC Player-of-the-Year Preston Broughton who is currently third in the GPAC in scoring (17.9 points per game) and second in rebounding (8.8 rebound per game). DWU lost in the semifinals of the GPAC Postseason Tournament to Northwestern College. The Tigers received the fifth at-large bid to the NAIA II National Tournament.

Aquinas College, ranked No. 14 in the final NAIA II poll, has a 24-8 overall record. Aquinas lost in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament semifinal to Cornerstone University on Saturday (March 1). They received the third at-large bid to the NAIA II National Tournament.

The Saints are led by sophomore guard John Lierman who averages 15.9 points per game and shoots 46 percent from the field. Pedja Lazic, a 6-6 junior forward, averages 14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, and James Telman, a 6-0 senior guard, averages 12.8 points per game and shoots 82.9 percent from the free-throw line. Senior Jeff Wierzbicki leads Aquinas in rebounds at 7.3 per game. Wierzbicki shot 134-235 for 57 percent from the field for the season.

The winner of the DWU/AC game will face the winner of No. 1-seed Bellevue University (Neb.) and Calumet College of St. Joseph (Vt.) at 10:15 a.m. on Friday, March 14.

This is the 13th trip to the NAIA National Tournament for Dakota Wesleyan, and the third time that DWU has participated in the NAIA II National Tournament. The Tigers received the fourth at-large bid last year and lost 73-72 to 15th-seed Mount Vernon Nazarene University in the first round.

The last tournament victory for Dakota Wesleyan was during the 1946-47 season when DWU defeated Southern Illinois University 44-39 at the national tournament in Kansas City, Mo.

DWU is 5-12 all-time at the NAIA National Tournament.