SIOUX FALLS — Valley City State’s Jalen Addison hit a game-winning jump shot with four-tenths of a second remaining in overtime to send Dakota Wesleyan’s men’s basketball team to its first loss of the 2021-22 season Saturday night at the Sanford Pentagon NAIA Classic, with the Vikings winning 88-86.
The finish capped a wild final 25 minutes of the game, with DWU leading by as many as 13 points with 16:24 remaining in the second half and the Tigers never trailed in the second half, but Chris Thompson’s three-point play with 2:34 remaining allowed VCSU to tie the game at 70. Ace Zorr put DWU ahead 72-70 with 1:36 remaining before Tate Hebrink scored the tying basket with 12 seconds left in regulation. DWU’s Koln Oppold missed a shot in the final seconds, sending the game to overtime.
Valley City stormed to the lead in the extra period, with a Connor Entzi three-point play and then a key DWU foul with Drew Cole fouling out and an ensuing technical foul for the Tigers allowed the Vikings four consecutive free throws to put the Vikings up 83-76 with 2:34 left in overtime. DWU answered back, with 10 of the next 14 points, including a Jeffrey Schuch basket with 4 seconds left to tie the game at 86. But Addison’s full-court sprint and basket lifted Valley City and put DWU at 2-1 this year.
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Playing close to their homes, DWU had a pair of outstanding performances from Koln Oppold and Ace Zorr. The Sioux Falls native Oppold had 17 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists in 44 minutes, while the Harrisburg product Zorr had a game-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting. DWU got a boost from Alan Kikwaki off the bench, who scored 18 points, and 14 from Jeffrey Schuch. DWU shot a season-best 58.2 percent from the field in the game but was 17-for-28 at the free throw line, a clip of 60.7 percent.
The Tigers had to play the final 9:52 of regulation and overtime without starter Mason Larson, who picked up his fourth foul and then a disqualifying fifth foul on a technical foul moments later. Larson finished with nine points.
Addison had 22 points for Valley City State, with Kevin Schramm adding 16 points, as the Vikings shot 47.6% and were 20-for-28 on free throws.
It is just the second time in the six-year history of DWU playing in the NAIA event at the Pentagon that the Tigers have lost, with both of those losses coming to VCSU, including a 66-63 win in 2020. Overall, the Tigers are 9-2 in the annual November event’s history entering Sunday’s contest with Presentation.
Valley City State 88, Dakota Wesleyan 86 (OT)
Valley City State (2-2): Jalen Addison 7-5 5-6 22 Chris Thompson 3-4 4-5 10 Joshua Kelly 2-8 3-7 16 Kevin Schramm 6-9 3-7 16 Connor Entzi 1-5 5-5 7 Eddie Oyet 3-5 0-0 7 Hunter Sand 2-3 0-0 6 Matthew Schlottman 0-0 0-0 0 Tate Hebrink 3-7 0-1 7 Cayden Rickard 0-0 0-0 0 Duoth Gach 1-4 0-0 2 Uhana Ochan 2-3 3-4 7 Totals 30-63 20-28 88
Dakota Wesleyan (2-1): Koln Oppold 6-16 4-5 17 Jeffrey Schuch 6-9 2-2 14 Mason Larson 4-7 0-0 9 Ace Zorr 9-13 7-12 25 Drew Cole 1-1 0-2 3 Nick Wittler 0-2 0-0 0 Alan Kikwaki 6-7 4-7 18 Totals 32-55 17-28 86
Halftime: DWU 38-32. End of regulation: Tied at 72. 3-pointers: VCSU 8-18 (Addison 3-5, Sand 2-2, Hebrink 1-4, Oyet 1-2, Schramm 1-2, Gach 0-2, Kelly 0-1), DWU 5-11 (Kikwaki 2-2, Cole 1-1, Oppold 1-3, Larson 1-3, Wittler 0-2). Rebounds: VCSU 33 (Oyet 7), DWU 34 (Oppold 14). Assists: VCSU 10 (Kelly 3, Schramm 3), DWU 17 (Oppold 9). Steals: VCSU 8 (Addison 3), DWU 3 (Schuch 2). Blocks: VCSU 2 (Ochan, Entzi), DWU 4 (Oppold 2). Total fouls: VCSU 25, DWU 25. Fouled out: DWU -- Larson, Cole; VCSU -- Thompson, Entzi. Turnovers: VCSU 12, DWU 18.
