SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Dakota Wesleyan Men's Basketball squared off against the Morningside Mustangs in a road GPAC contest.
The contest was a tale of two halves in terms of pacing, as the Mustangs and the Tigers saw a defensively-focused first half before an explosion of offense in the second. Out of the gate, Dakota Wesleyan was able to jump out to an 8-0 lead thanks to efficient shooting from Anthony Riggans, who ended up being DWU's leading scorer on the evening with 17 points on a 7-12 (58.3%) clip from the field, and added four boards, a steal, and a block to his final statline. Easton Neuendorf also got involved early with a big three in the first few minutes, and went on to record eight points along with six assists, but the counterattack from the Mustangs was able to swing momentum back in their favor to claim a 15-14 lead with six and a half minutes before halftime. DWU and MU stayed close towards the break, but overall shooting efficiencies of 28.1% from the Tigers and 34.5% from the Mustangs in the half only led to 46 combined first-half points, as Morningside held a 25-21 advantage going into halftime.
Tyson Stevenson got the hot hand out of the break as both offenses were much more efficient in the second half and went on to record 14 total points on a 4-8 (50%) clip from beyond the arc, while reigning GPAC Defensive Player of the Week Randy Rosenquist Jr. led Dakota Wesleyan on the boards with 13 rebounds, and also recorded nine points and six assists. The added efforts of Oliver Vincent off the bench, with nine total points and two boards, gave the DWU offense an added spark, but Morningside was able to find a second gear and go on an offensive run in the back half of the period. CJ Banks and Noah Oberfeld got involved with two and three points each, respectively, and Steele Morgan would add four rebounds and two points to his totals, but the Tigers were still unable to match the second-half output of the Mustangs. Morningside would outscore the Tigers 59-43 in the second half and go 47.7% from the field, compared to DWU's 37.5%. The three-point shooting favored Dakota Wesleyan, but the overall efficiency from the field favored the opposition, and Morningside would claim an 84-64 victory.
DWU Men's Basketball will be back in action on Wednesday, January 28th, against Briar Cliff for Pink the Palace in Mitchell. See the full schedule here.