MW BASKETBALL: Bluejays, Lady Jays face Tigers

MITCHELL, S.D. — Despite a strong comeback in the second half, an early 20-point deficit was too much for the Minnesota West men’s basketball team to overcome in an 83-77 loss to the Dakota Wesleyan JV team Thursday.

“We didn’t shoot very well in the first half and were down by 20 points at one point,” Bluejays coach Justin Heckenlaible said. “We made a great effort in the second half. We cut their lead down to four at one point, but it wasn’t enough. The guys played hard though.”

The Tigers controlled the first half, outscoring the Bluejays 41-23.

“We needed to execute better and not let ourselves get down so far,” Heckenlaible said. “The shots we took weren’t bad, but when you are not shooting well you need to get better quality shots.”

In the second half, the Bluejays stepped up their game and were able to outscore the Tigers 54-42 to come within 12 points of the lead.

“We started making those shots we were missing in the first half,” Heckenlaible said. “We were also able to make things happen on defense to keep ourselves in it.”

Even with a late run, the Bluejays were unable to come all the way back, falling to 2-1 this season.

“When we are not getting our shots to fall, we have to move and get better ones,” Heckenlaible said. “Hopefully, we can fix that for our next game.

Luke Roddy (four 3’s) and Mitch Hopkins (nine rebounds) led the Bluejays with 17 points apiece in the loss, with Cody Harris scoring 13 to round out the MW players in double-digits.

Mitch Olson had nine points in the game, followed by A.J. Ourada who had seven. Tyler Aquallo scored six points, while Orie Brown posted five points and Jackson Seitzinger generated two points for the Bluejays.

Trae Bergh led the Tigers with 20 points, followed by Adam Fink with 12 more. Thomas Geraets (three 3’s) added 11 for DW, while Lee Niewenhuis chipped in 10.

Minnesota West hosts Morningside University’s JV squad in a women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader at 6 p.m. Thursday at Worthington High School.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN JV 83, MINNESOTA WEST 77

MINNESOTA WEST (2-1): Roddy 6-1-17, Olson 4-1-9, Brown 1-2-5, Aquallo 2-2-6, Hopkins 7-3-17, Seitzinger 1-0-2, Ourada 2-3-7, Harris 4-2-13, Green 0-1-1. TOTALS: 27-15-77.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN JV: Bergh 5-8-20, Fink 2-8-12, Geraets 3-2-11, Mathis 2-5-9, Lenocker 1-4-6, Wookey 2-2-6, Niewenhuis 4-0-10, Reese 1-0-2, Smith 3-1-7. TOTALS: 23-30-83.

Minnesota West 23 54 — 77

Dakota Wesleyan JV 41 42 — 83

3-Point Goals: Minnesota West 8 (Roddy 4, Harris 3, Brown); Dakota Wesleyan JV 7 (Geraets 3, Bergh 2, Niewenhuis 2).

Dakota Wesleyan outlasts Minnesota West

MITCHELL, S.D. —Brittany Hulstein scored 27 points during a non-conference loss by Minnesota West on Thursday.

Hulstein, who made eight field goals and 9 of 9 free throws, was the game’s leading scorer.

Trailing 29-25 at half time, Minnesota West coach Mike Fury said the Lady Jays needed a more efficient start.

“We came out a little bit slow and were in a little bit of a hole early, but then we worked our way back into the first half before Dakota Wesleyan hit a 3 at the buzzer to take a 4-point lead,” Mike Fury said.

The Lady Jays eventually took a 40-36 lead with 14 minutes left before the Tigers made consecutive 3-pointers to regain a 2-point lead.

It inspired a Dakota Wesley run that handed the Tigers a 12-point cushion. Minnesota West whittled its deficit down to two points with effective ballhandling and strung together multiple strong possessions with 2 minutes left, but could get no closer.

“We missed on a couple of possessions down the stretch and they were able to hit four free throws in the last 30 seconds,” Fury said. “It felt more like a six-point game than a 10-point game, but we still have to correct some things.”

Fury mentioned Dakota Wesleyan held an edge in rebounding, especially at the offensive end.

“We need to work on rebounding and we need to cut down on turnovers at crucial times,” Fury said.

Lindsey Drooger added 18 points on five field goals and 5 of 9 free throws. Tiffany Gehl contributed eight points.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN JV 72, MINNESOTA WEST 62

MINNESOTA WEST (1-2): Eichenberger 0 3-4 3, Kazemba 0 2-2 2, Gehl 2 3-6 8, Hulstein 8 9-9 27, Drooger 5 5-9 18, Granstra 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 16 24-32 62.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN JV: Kuhn 2 5-6 9, Erickson 4 3-4 12, Sattner 1 0-0 2, Heyden 5 1-2 12, Binger 4 7-12 17, Woodrum 1 1-2 4, Keeft 0 2-2 2, Runge 1 0-0 2, Fujan 4 4-5 12. TOTALS: 22 23-33 72.

Minnesota West 25 37 — 62

Dakota Wesleyan JV 29 43 — 72

3-Point Goals: Minnesota West 6 (Drooger 3, Hulstein 2, Gehl); Dakota Wesleyan JV 5 (Binger 2, Erickson, Hey-den, Woodrum).

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