Index of Sports Press Releases

Feb. 7, 2010

No. 11 DWU digs in to beat No. 24 Concordia for 10th-straight win

MITCHELL, S.D. – The Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball team, tied for the No. 11 ranking in NAIA DII, continued its incredible run, beating No. 24 Concordia University 73-63 on its home floor Saturday. The win is the Tigers’ 10th in a row – its third victory over a ranked team in its last four games – and it helped them put some serious distance between themselves and another challenger for the GPAC title.

Coupled with the Tigers’ (21-5, 13-2) 78-64 win over Concordia (17-9, 11-4) on Dec. 5 at the Corn Palace, DWU swept the season series and moved two full games ahead of the Bulldogs in the GPAC standings. The battle for the conference title has essentially turned into a two-team race with two weeks left in the season. Dakota Wesleyan sits atop the standings at 13-2, and Hastings College, which beat Briar Cliff University 96-81 Saturday, is 1.5 games back at 11-3. The Tigers and Broncos will meet for the only time this season on the season’s final day, Saturday, Feb., 20, at the Corn Palace, so the title could come down to that marquee matchup.

Preston Broughton

Mitch Bain

Saturday, DWU stayed perfect in 2010 by always having an answer for a good Concordia team. After 13 minutes of play, the Tigers held a slim two-point lead, but jumpers by Darrin Dorsey and Preston Broughton and layups by Jordan Long and Mitch Bain resulted in an 8-0 run and 10-point lead for the Tigers at 31-21. However, Concordia got a late 3-pointer from Dustin Weber and cut the lead in half by intermission, 35-30.

Dakota Wesleyan opened the second half with a crucial 13-4 run to push the lead to 14 points at 48-34. The run was keyed by a Preston Broughton three and then back-to-back 3-pointers from Mitch Bain. DWU definitely needed the cushion as Concordia got hot from the outside and battled all the way back to tie the game at 55-55 with 10:40 to play.

However, Dakota Wesleyan again had an answer. Broughton scored inside twice to cap a 9-1 run that put DWU up eight, 64-56, and essentially put Concordia away. The Bulldogs got within five points twice in the final minutes, but the Dorsey scored the games’ final five points, including a steal and a dunk, to finish off the impressive road win.

Broughton put the finishing touches on a huge week with 26 points and nine rebounds, just days after his 21-point, 10-rebound performance in the Tigers’ win over 16th-ranked Sioux Falls. Bain added 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals and Dorsey had 11 points, six assists and two steals in the victory. Brady Wiebe was held to just six points, but contributed to the win with 11 boards, four assists, four steals and three blocked shots. DWU shot 50.9 percent from the floor as a team, including 53.8 percent from behind the 3-point arc, but were hurt by 19 uncharacteristic turnovers.

Tyler Byrd led Concordia with 14 points. He was the only Bulldog in double figures, but he was one of seven Concordia players to score at least six points. The Bulldogs shot just 35.4 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from the 3-point line, but they used eight steals and 15 offensive boards to stay in the game.

The Tigers will try to make it 11 wins in a row Wednesday when they travel to Yankton, S.D., to take on in-state rival Mount Marty College. The Lancers are just 5-20 overall and 3-11 in conference play, but they present another good road test for DWU. The Tigers held on to beat Mount Marty 79-76 in the team’s first meeting this season on Dec. 2 at the Corn Palace.

DWU will take next Saturday off before traveling to Northwestern College on Feb. 17 and hosting Hastings in the season finale on Feb. 20. Obviously, three wins would guarantee an outright GPAC title for the Tigers, and winning two out of its final three would also give DWU at least a share of the title. If one of the two wins is against Hastings, Dakota Wesleyan would also claim the title outright. Regardless of the outcome, the Tigers are set up for an unforgettable two weeks to end the regular season.