HANNIBAL, Mo. | CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — DWU Men's Basketball faced the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojans and the Mount Mercy Mustangs on November 8th through the 9th in two out-of-conference contests.
The Tigers kicked off the weekend against Hannibal-LaGrange, where the team saw major contributions from all five starters. The team was led on the scoreboard for the first time this season by Tyson Stevenson, who posted an impressive 23-point effort on 8-13 (61.5%) shooting from the field and 5-9 (55.6%) from beyond the arc in a full 40 minutes on the court. He was nearly matched by Randy Rosenquist Jr, who posted 21 points and also contributed three rebounds and two assists to the team's effort. The Tigers would cruise to a 43-31 score at the half thanks to the tandem of scorers, along with the support of Easton Neuendorf and Steele Morgan, who each contributed 10 points apiece on the statsheet. Morgan also led the team in rebounds with eight overall, and was supported on the boards by Andrew Younan, who recorded five of his own. The second half saw the Trojans pick up the pace on offense, getting the Tigers out of rhythm at times, but Dakota Wesleyan held strong through the final couple of minutes of play as Hannibal-LaGrange closed in on the lead. The Trojans would tie the game up at 70 with just under a minute left, but a set of free throws from Anthony Riggans, Younan, and Rosenquist gave the Tigers just enough to secure a close victory by a score of 76-74. The Trojans out-rebounded the Tigers 37-27, but more efficient shooting from Dakota Wesleyan ultimately made the difference to secure the win.
The second contest of the weekend saw Dakota Wesleyan travel from Missouri to Iowa to face off against Mount Mercy. The Mustangs were the ones to take the initial momentum, but the Tigers still found scoring production from the true freshman Neuendorf, who led the team with 15 points during the contest. Riggans was the only other Tiger to record double-digit points with 11 and added five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks to his stat line. Even with solid contributions, it was clear that the Mount Marty defense was successfully slowing down the Dakota Wesleyan attack, which led to a 47-33 advantage over DWU at the half. Stevenson was able to add eight points to the score while Rosenquist put up six of his own, and while the effort was there, the offense was not able to take advantage of its opportunities like the Tigers might have hoped. Gavyn Strand helped the effort with seven points on 3-6 (50%) shooting from the field in 19 minutes of play alongside Younan, who recorded three points off the bench. The Mustangs kept the Tigers at arm's length to claim an 82-60 victory, giving Dakota Wesleyan Men's Basketball its first loss of the season. Following the weekend of competition, the Tigers sit at 3-1 overall.
DWU Men's Basketball will be back in action against Valley City State at the Corn Palace on Wednesday, November 12th, at 7:00 PM. See the full 2025-26 schedule here.