Index of Sports Press Releases

Mar. 11, 2009

Dakota Wesleyan opens National Tournament against Grand View

MITCHELL, S.D. – 14th-ranked Dakota Wesleyan University hopes for a little more success in its third-straight NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Tournament appearance Thursday. The Tigers open tournament play with a first-round matchup against Grand View College from Des Moines, Iowa.

While Dakota Wesleyan is back at the National Tournament for the third-straight season, the Tigers are searching for their first win at the event in that span following first-round exits the past two years. In 2007, DWU lost a 73-72 heartbreaker to Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio), and last season the Tigers ran into an incredibly hot Aquinas College squad in a 91-66 loss.

This season, the Tigers were awarded the No. 16 seed in the field after entering the tournament unseeded the past two seasons. The top 16 teams in the field are seeded, and the remaining 16 teams fill out the first-round matchups.

Entering the tournament, this version of DWU has its best overall and conference records in head coach John Hemenway’s four seasons. The Tigers are 25-8, which is one win shy of the school record of 26 wins, which was set in 1978-79. DWU also went 14-4 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play and finished second in both the regular season and the postseason tournament, all which are new bench marks for the Tigers.

Brady Wiebe

Mitch Bain

However, this season’s squad has had to overcome some incredible adversity to reach its current heights. Reigning GPAC Player-of-the-Year and First-Team All-American Preston Broughton had to have knee surgery in the opening weeks of the season and was forced to redshirt. The Tigers were dealt another blow on Jan. 21 when the GPAC’s second leading scorer, senior guard Colby Fitzgerald (18.3 ppg), also suffered a season-ending knee injury. Fitzgerald’s season still garnered All-GPAC Second Team honors, but the loss of his point production has been tough for the team to overcome.

Despite the losses, DWU still brings five double-digit scorers into Thursday’s first-round matchup, led by All-GPAC First Team picks Brady Wiebe and Mitch Bain. Wiebe, a sophomore forward, finished third in the GPAC in scoring with 17.0 ppg and second in rebounding with 8.9 rpg. Bain, a junior point guard, averaged 12.2 points and 4.2 rebounds to go along with 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals.

The Tigers’ other three starters all average between 10.0 and 10.7 points per game. Junior Ike Muoneke was an All-GPAC Second Team pick with 10.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and both senior Scott Nelson (10.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and sophomore Chase Walder (10.7 ppg, 3.1 apg) were both All-GPAC Honorable Mention selections.

Dakota Wesleyan’s first-round opponent has a similar resume and several similar opponents. Grand View is 24-8, and it won the Midwest Collegiate Conference’s regular-season title with a 14-2 mark. This is the Vikings’ third National Tournament appearance, but first since 2001.

Grand View and the Tigers have four common opponents this season – Midland Lutheran College, Briar Cliff University, William Penn University and Dordt College. The Vikings beat Midland Lutheran twice (81-67, 67-57) and Briar Cliff on its home floor (79-73), but they split with William Penn (62-70, 64-61) and dropped a home game to Dordt (72-75). DWU beat Midland (84-73) and William Penn (81-74) once, split with Briar Cliff (90-68, 64-79) and took two of three from the Defenders (73-82, 86-59, 67-65).

Grand View is led by junior forward Cory Viet, who averages 16.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and was named the MCC’s Newcomer-of-the-Year. However, the Vikings can also do a lot of damage from the perimeter. Guard Rohan Greaves (12.0 ppg, 78 3-pointers) and forward Greg Schulz (9.4 ppg, 63 3-pointers) can both fill it up from behind the 3-point line, and point guard Grant Burns (8.8 ppg, 5.3 apg) really makes the Grand View offense go.

The Vikings finished the season three spots behind DWU in the Top 25 Coaches’ Poll at No. 17, and they have won 16 of 18 games heading into the tournament. Grand View only allows 62.3 points per game on defense, which is the fifth-best mark in the country.

Dakota Wesleyan and Grand View are dealing with the longest wait of the first round. They’ll play the final first-round game Thursday night at 9:15 p.m. at College of the Ozark’s Keeter Gymnasium in Point Lookout, Mo., near Branson. This is Ozark’s 10th season hosting the National Tournament. The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the Sweet 16, where it will face the winner of No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan (30-2) and Fisher College (21-11) Friday night at 9:15 p.m.

Thursday’s first-round game will be broadcast live by 105.9 KMIT and online at www.kmit.com. A video webcast will also be available via JumpTV for a fee, and live stats will be on the NAIA’s Web site. Links to all this and more can be found on the Tigers’ Tournament Web site: http://www.dwu.edu/athletics/mbasketball/tourney.htm.

Also, there will be a live viewing party for DWU’s first-round game Thursday in the Sherman Center on the Tigers’ campus, sponsored by Dakota Wesleyan Intramural Sports. Everyone from the DWU community is invited to attend and cheer on the Tigers, and snacks will be provided.