Monday was a busy day for the Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team.
The Tigers, fresh off two big Great Plains Athletic Conference wins, announced the signing of another player, made a sizeable jump in the NAIA polls and landed their second straight GPAC player of the week.
Last week, sophomore Brady Wiebe was honored for a pair of monster performances. This week, Mitch Bain earned the honor for two career-high performances that couldn't have come at a better time.
The junior point guard averaged 21.5 points, 7.5 assists, three rebounds and three steals in two huge GPAC wins for the Tigers, including a 90-68 upset of then-No. 13 Briar Cliff.
Bain, a junior transfer from Iowa Lakes Community College, scored 19 points and had eight assists, five rebounds and three steals against the Chargers Wednesday. He then upped his career high on Sunday with 24 points, seven assists and three steals.
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Bain's sudden scoring burst helped fill in for Colby Fitzgerald, who has to undergo season-ending knee surgery after injuring his knee Wednesday against Briar Cliff.
"Mitch is a talented player, and during the recruiting process, I knew he had the ability to score," DWU coach John Hemenway said. "Not to say he hasn't scored at all (with Fitzgerald in the lineup), he just hasn't been a No. 1 option. With Colby out, he's really assumed more of a scoring role. He's a very good shooter."
Bain is averaging 10.4 points, 5 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game this season. His last two performances have helped the Tigers dominate their opponents, and helped Dakota Wesleyan make an eight-place jump in the NAIA polls this week.
The Tigers, ranked No. 22 last week, jumped to No. 14 in Monday's poll. They leapfrogged Morningside College, which went from No. 18 to No. 15, and are now the top-ranked GPAC school.
"We've really played well in Colby's absence," Hemenway said. "We have lots of guys playing really well right now. We responded to some adversity, and it's nice to see (the jump in the rankings)."
Dakota Wesleyan plays No. 15 Morningside Wednesday. The two are in a deadlock for first in the conference with identical 9-2 records, and both are looking to take control of first place.
While the team is focusing solely on Wednesday's GPAC showdown, Hemenway is already looking to secure the best roster possible for next season. Monday, Hemenway announced that Bo LaCroix, a standout from Hurley, has signed on to join DWU next season.
LaCroix, a 6-foot-7 swingman at Hurley, is averaging 27.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and four assists per game in his final high school season. He recently scored a season-high 43 points in a single game.
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LaCroix quarterbacked the Marion/Hurley football team to a Class 9AA state title this season and, as a sophomore, he drained three 3-pointers in the final 1:30 of the 2007 Class B state basketball championship game to help Hurley upset Mitchell Christian for the state title.
"He's a very skilled player," Hemenway said of his newest recruit. "He can basically play the 1, 2 3 or 4 spot and he does have good size for a wing. He's very versatile. I'm really excited about Bo; I think he has a lot of upsides. I think he'll be a good college player."
