DWU men beat NWU 67-62

• Bo LaCroix

(Luke Hagen/Republic) Dakota Wesleyan University’s Bo LaCroix, left, looks to drive past a Nebraska Wesleyan defender during a game Sunday at the Corn Palace.

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Dakota Wesleyan University’s Carde Pennington and Luke Bamberg provided a spark off the bench Sunday.

And when the Tigers were trailing Nebraska Wesleyan by 18 points late in the first half, there’s no question it was much needed.

Pennington scored a game-high 17 points and Bamberg had a double-double to lead the Tigers in a 67-62 win in a Great Plains Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at the Corn Palace.

“Carde’s and Luke Bamberg’s performances to end the first half, both of those guys, I thought, played an instrumental role in keeping us in the game,” DWU coach Shane Murphy said.

DWU trailed by five at halftime and shot 50 percent from the field in the second half to pick up their seventh GPAC win this year.

The Tigers (15-13) moved into sixth place in the conference standings with two games left in the regular season, putting themselves in strong position to earn a top-eight spot for a postseason tournament bid.

Pennington had the Tigers’ first field goal of the game, coming at the 13:40 mark of the first half. He weaved through the lane and dropped in a floater to get the Tigers within 12-4. Pennington, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, was 3-of-3 from 3-point land in the first half.

“That’s what they’ve got me here for is to shoot it,” said Pennington, who hit another 3-pointer in the second half to finish 4-of-5 in the game.

Bamberg had nine of his 11 points before halftime. He and Pennington combined of the team’s 32 first-half points. Bamberg also had 10 rebounds.

Pennington had a 3-pointer with 4:34 left in the first half to get the Tigers within 33-21. He also hit one when the first-half buzzer sounded that kept his team within striking distance, and DWU went into the break trailing 38-32.

“It’s amazing how one guy knocking down a few shots helps you get some momentum and gets some belief going,” Murphy said.

Nebraska Wesleyan built an 11-point lead four minutes into the second half, but Justin Nelson’s score and Jordan Long’s bucket from inside tied the game at 56.

NWU re-tied the game at 61 with about two minutes to play, but the Tigers kept NWU from recording another field goal from there.

“Sometimes, the hardest thing is getting over the hump and getting that lead,” Murphy said. “When we did, we didn’t let down or let them get the lead back. That was big for us, and we did it with defense and rebounding.”

The Tigers’ Mike Lee scored 11 points, all of which came in the second half. NWU outrebounded DWU 39-35 and got a team-high 16 points from Eric Jackson. Nick Dinan had 11 points and Trevor Johnson had 10.

Dakota Wesleyan wraps up its regular season with two games on the road. The Tigers play Northwestern at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in Orange City, Iowa in their next action. They play Briar Cliff at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN 67,

NEBRASKA WESLEYAN 62

NWU (11-13, 7-12 GPAC)

Trevor Johnson 5-14 0-0 10, Andy Schweitzer 1-7 2-2 5, Nick Dinan 5-5 1-2 11, Eric Jackson 5-11 3-4 16, Tim Schweitzer 3-7 0-0 6, Jonah Bradley 2-4 0-0 6, Byron Thompson 0-3 0-0 0, Trey Closter 0-0 0-0 0, Trent Scheitel 2-6 2-2 6, Mitch Liberty 0-2 0-0 0, Bryce Arp 1-4 0-1 2. Totals: 24-63 8-11 62.

DWU (15-13, 7-11 GPAC)

Kris Wilson 0-3 5-8 5, Mike Lee 4-9 3-3 11, Jalen Voss 0-6 1-2 1, Jordan Long 3-4 0-0 7, Jake Kneeland 1-5 0-0 2, Justin Nelson 3-5 1-2 8, Carde Pennington 6-10 1-2 17, Bo LaCroix 1-2 3-4 5, Luke Bamberg 3-5 4-4 11. Totals: 21-49 18-25 67.

Halftime: NWU 38-32. 3-Point Goals: DWU 7-11 (Pennington 4, Long 1, Nelson 1, Bamberg 1), NWU 6-15 (Jackson 3, Bradley 2, A. Schweitzer 1). Rebounds: DWU 35 (Bamberg 10), NWU 39 (T. Schweitzer 9). Assists: DWU 12 (Nelson 3, Bamberg 3), NWU 15 (A. Schweitzer 6). Turnovers: DWU 9, NWU 7. Total Fouls: DWU 17, NWU 19. Fouled Out: None. Technical Fouls: None.

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