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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — After leading for the whole game, Dakota Wesleyan men’s basketball used a late run to secure a win.
The Tigers closed out the game on a 9-0 run to take down Rochester University (Mich.), which was receiving votes in the last national poll, 74-66 in their second and final game at the Cruzin Classic.
In a game that featured six ties, DWU (7-7) jumped out early, but the Warriors continuously erased any deficit they’d face in the first half but couldn’t grab a lead. The Tigers took a 44-39 advantage into halftime and went up by as much as seven points in the second half before the Warriors came back.
RU (10-3) took its first lead of the game with 3:38 to go in regulation after Bralin Toney hit a 3-pointer to put RU up 66-65, but it was the last points DWU surrendered all night. The Tigers then went on a 9-0 run to end the game, with seven of the points coming at the free-throw line.
Kallan Herman led the Tigers with 23 points, 17 of which came in the first half, as he connected on nine of his 15 shot attempts on the night and went 3-for-6 from 3-point range.
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Blaze Lubbers and Koln Oppold contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively. Lubbers hit six of nine shots, while Oppold pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds and dished out nine assists. James Ballard led RU in scoring with 21 points and collected a team-high seven rebounds.
The Tigers grabbed 40 rebounds to the Warriors’ 25 and shot 48.3% as a team and 33.3% from behind the arc.
DWU’s next game comes on Friday, Dec. 30, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, when the Tigers take on Viterbo in their final game of the 2022 calendar year.
