After a huge win Wednesday against Dordt College, the Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball team didn't want to let its guard down Sunday against Nebraska Wesleyan.
The Tigers got off to a slow start, but used a 20-6 run near the end of the first half to gain control of the game en route to a 77-64 win over the Prairie Wolves at the Corn Palace.
DWU is now in a three-way tie for second place in the GPAC with Concordia and Morningside. Mount Marty did the rest of the conference a favor Saturday night when it beat Concordia, which was alone in second place.
"It was a little like Wednesday's game against Dordt -- it took us a couple jump shots to get us going," DWU coach John Hemenway said. "(NWU) only gives up 60 points per game, and we were still able to score 77."
Dakota Wesleyan got down by as much as 12, 16-4, early in the first half. Then Scott Nelson hit a three to start a 12-2 run and Colby Fitzgerald hit another three to get the Tigers within two, 18-12. The Prairie Wolves pushed their lead back out to four, then Fitzgerald hit his second three of the game and Ike Muoneke got a steal and dished a pass to Mitch Bain who gave it to Chase Walder for a basket and the free-throw after the foul for a 23-22 lead for DWU.
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NWU stole the lead back with a layup and two free throws, but Dakota Wesleyan ended the half on a 12-2 run for a 36-28 halftime lead.
"The run at the end of the first gave us momentum going into the second half," Walder said. "Nebraska Wesleyan plays defense really hard. I don't know if we play anyone else all year that plays defense like they do. We just didn't come out with the intensity we would have liked coming off a big win like Dordt."
DWU extended its run to 16-2 when Brady Wiebe hit two free throws and a layup to start the second half, and from there it was just a matter of keeping the Prairie Wolves at bay. They tied the game at 47 with 10:12 left to play, but Walder hit a three and Scott Nelson was able to tip in a missed shot to stretch the lead back out.
NWU got to within two a few minutes later, but the Tigers went 9-for-10 from the line in the last 1:27 to seal the win.
Wiebe had a huge game at the line and on the boards to lead the Tigers. He finished 17-for-18 from the line and had 27 total points and he also had 15 total rebounds.
"Brady just played a great game," Hemenway said. "He did a great job of getting to the free-throw line. He's one of those guys who's just kind of in the right place at the right time."
Fitzgerald added 14 points and Walder finished with 11 for DWU, which is 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the GPAC.
Dylan Aylward led NWU with 15 points and Brandon Arp had 12. Ryan Thramer had 10 rebounds.
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The Tigers were 22-for-51 from the field and 26-for-37 from the line. Nebraska Wesleyan was 24-for-55 from the field and 11-for-15 from the line.
DWU is home again Wednesday in another key GPAC matchup when it hosts Briar Cliff, which is alone in first in the conference with an 8-2 GPAC record.
DAKOTA WESLEYAN 77
NEBRASKA WESLEYAN 64
Nebraska Wesleyan (8-7, 4-4)
Ryan Thramer 0-5 3-3 3; Dylan Aylward 7-16 0-0 15; Lee Hullman 0-1 0-0 0; Jake Spurgeon 3-9 0-0 7; Brandon Arp 5-9 1-2 12; Jordan Burt 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Palmer 3-3 0-0 8; Nick Dinan 1-6 4-4 6; Preston Englund 3-4 3-6 9; Mitch Liberty 1-1 0-0 2; Bryce Arp 1-1 0-0 2; Jim Lance 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 11-15 64.
Dakota Wesleyan (16-5, 7-2)
Brady Wiebe 5-9 17-18 27; Ike Muoneke 3-6 3-6 9; Scott Nelson 3-6 0-0 7; Mitch Bain 2-4 0-1 4; Colby Fitzgerald 3-14 5-8 14; Chase Walder 4-8 1-2 11; Jordan Long 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Long 2-4 0-2 4. Totals 22-51 26-37 77.
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Halftime score: NWU 28, DWU 36. Three-point goals: NWU 5-17 (Palmer 2-2); DWU 7-16 (Fitzgerald 3-7). Rebounds: NWU 29 (THramer 10), DWU 40 (Wiebe 15). Turnovers: NWU 13, DWU 10. Assists: NWU 16 (Englund, Spurgeon 3), DWU 17 (Walder, Bain 4). Steals: NWU 5 (Spurgeon 3), DWU 8 (Muoneke 3). Blocks: NWU 1, DWU 0.
