Another hot start propels Dakota Wesleyan men to its second win of the season

Branden Hull, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·4 min read

Oct. 31—The Dakota Wesleyan men's basketball team had another hot start in the first half to lead the Tigers to a 96-59 victory over Dickinson State at the Corn Palace Saturday.

It started with a couple lay ups from Jeffrey Schuch and back-to-back three's from Drew Cole. Follow that up with seven consecutive points from Ace Zorr and DWU had a 17-2 lead within the first six minutes of action.

The Tigers went into halftime with a 36-point lead, shooting 67 percent from the field. Dakota Wesleyan held the Blue Hawks to 8 of 35 shooting in the first half and outscored Dickinson State in the paint 34 to 4. Schuch led DWU at the break with 14 points while Koln Oppold had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

"This is what you hope for when you have a lot of upperclassmen," DWU head coach Matt Wilber said. "They understand, they've been through the ups and downs of bad starts, good starts and the differences in how to prepare and being ready to roll. Defensively, our guys were ready to go and that was the name of the game. Offensively, we really executed against their zone."

Dickinson State tried a full court press and a 3-2 zone in an attempt to slow the Tigers offense that continues to outscore teams in the paint. Thus far through the first two games, DWU has now outscored opponents in the paint 98 to 34 and outrebounded opponents 89 to 53. In each game, DWU has committed six turnovers or less and have had at least five players in double figures.

"Well this season, we looked and said what do we have here, what do we want to be good at and how do we want to be good with these pieces while still keeping the consistency of our program and keeping our systems in place," Wilber said. "We're long, we have some guys that are really good at ball hawking on offensive rebounds ... that's a weapon of ours and then we're big with multiple guys that can play inside so find the mismatch and get it in there. Our guys have done a really good job of that because they play so well together and nobodies out there trying to just get theirs."

Schuch finished the game with 16 points, making eight of his 11 shots. Oppold finished with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while Cole nailed three 3-pointers. Zorr finished with 14 points, Alan Kikwaki had 11 points and five rebounds, and Nick Wittler finished the game with 10 points.

Dickinson State finished the game shooting 36 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. Bryce Knox led all scorers with 17 points while Aushanti Potts-Woods had 14 points off the bench in 15 minutes.

The Tigers travel to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls for a pair of neutral site games against Valley City State on Nov. 6 and Presentation on Nov. 7. DWU plays their next eight games on the road and will return to the Corn Palace on Dec. 3 to face Hastings.

Dakota Wesleyan (2-0): Jeffrey Schuch 8-11 0-0 16, Ace Zorr 6-9 2-3 14, Koln Oppold 6-10 0-0 12, Alan Kikwaki 4-6 3-3 11, Nick Wittler 4-7 1-1 10, Drew Cole 3-7 0-0 9, Mason Larson 3-7 1-1 8, Samuel Aslesen 2-3 2-2 6, Tyus Arends 1-3 0-0 6, Drew Van Regenmorter 1-1 0-0 3, Blaze Lubbers 1-3 0-0 2, Jakob Dobney 0-0 2-2 2, Kallan Herman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 39-68 11-12 96.

Dickinson State (0-3): Bryce Knox 5-10 3-3 17, Aushanti Potts-Woods 6-10 1-2 14, Josiah Haaland 4-5 1-1 9, Jalon Tinnin 2-6 1-3 6, John Evans 2-7 0-1 4, Cobe Begger 2-4 0-2 4, Cody Perkins 1-2 1-1 3, Tyce Dahlberg 1-4 0-2 2, Trey Hladky 0-6 0-0 0, Jamal Altsrom 0-4 0-0 0, Ajdin Toskic 0-3 0-0 0, Travon Hamilton 0-3 0-0 0.

Halftime: Dakota Wesleyan 54-18. 3-point field goals: DWU 5-7 (Cole 2-3, Larson 1-2, Wittler 1-1, Arends 1-1); DS 1-10 (Knox 1-2, Tinnin 0-1, Begger 0-2, Toskic 0-2, Hladky 0-3). Rebounds: DWU 23 (Oppold 12); DS 11 (Knox 2). Assists: DWU 10 (Larson 4); DS 2 (Hladky 2). Steals: DWU 1 (Wittler 1); DS 0. Blocked shots: DWU 1 (Cole 1); DS 3 (Tinnin 1). Turnovers: DWU 1; DS 2. Total fouls: DWU 4; DS 2.