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DWU men pull away from Concordia

Dakota Wesleyan University's Ty Hoglund knew exactly where to give credit after scoring a career-high 37 points. "I am playing with the best passers in the nation right now," said Hoglund, who led the Tigers to a 98-90 win over Con...

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Dakota Wesleyan's Ty Hoglund (24) drives past Concordia's Tanner Shuck (21) and Chris Johnstone (4) during a game in the first round of the Great Plains Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. (Matt Gade / Republic)

Dakota Wesleyan University's Ty Hoglund knew exactly where to give credit after scoring a career-high 37 points.
"I am playing with the best passers in the nation right now," said Hoglund, who led the Tigers to a 98-90 win over Concordia University on Wednesday night in a Great Plains Athletic Conference postseason game at the Corn Palace.
Hoglund and the Tigers (23-8) avenged two regular-season losses against Concordia as DWU knocked the Bulldogs out of the GPAC postseason tournament for the third straight year.
The Tigers now play at Northwestern College on Saturday in the second round of the GPAC tournament in Orange City, Iowa. DWU has eliminated Concordia in the first round of the tournament for the third-straight season.
“We knew that they were feeling pretty good coming in 2-0 against us,” Hoglund said. “We knew we had to step up our game from the last time and we just played well overall.”
Trae Vandeberg broke out of a scoring slump and finished with 24 points. Jason Spicer added 17 points. Tate Martin tossed in 12 points and dished out seven assists in his final career collegiate game at the Corn Palace.
The Tigers trailed 47-43 at halftime, but erupted for 55 points in the second half to pull ahead.
“We just made some silly mistakes in the first half defensively that gave them some buckets in transition,” Martin said. “So that was our focus in the second half, was just lock down on defense and the baskets will come if we focus on defense.”
Vandeberg also heated up in the second half as the Tigers. Vandeberg, who had been in a recent offensive slump, scored 18 of his 24 in the second half.
“It is always feels good to get some shots down,” Vandeberg said. “The last couple of games I have been focusing on playing defense. We have been giving up a lot of points recently. That is my main focus, but it always feels good to hit shots and get my confidence back.”
Hoglund and Vandeberg helped DWU go ahead by as many as 14 points in the second half. The Tigers kept the Bulldogs at bay for the rest of the game, after giving up 109 points against the Bulldogs in the last meeting at the Corn Palace.
“I am just proud of our guys,” DWU coach Matt Wilber said. “They answered the call. They hear me bark at them all the time and they just keep coming back with a lot of grit and determination.”
Eli Ziegler led Concordia (21-10) with 15 points. Chandler Folkerts added 14 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The Bulldogs came into the game with a lot of confidence. They not only beat the Tigers by three in overtime at the Corn Palace 10 days ago, but came in having won nine of their last 10 games.
“We knew how well Concordia was playing right now,” Martin said. “We thought they were the best team in the conference right now. We came out and grinded. (Spicer) did a really good job on Folkerts and got him in foul trouble. So that played a big part in it.”
The Bulldogs led by seven midway through the first half and held their four-point advantage at the break. With Folkerts saddled with three fouls, the Tigers attacked the basket and converted. They also hit from deep as Vandeberg and Hoglund combined for six 3-pointers. Aaron Ahmadu, starting in place of Nate Davis (illness), also hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points.
“We made a lot of plays,” Wilber said. “We made a lot of big shots and Tate made some, but Ty and Trae really stepped up and made some big time plays for us.”
DWU defeated Northwestern 83-77 in the regular season finale at the Corn Palace. The Tigers lost to the Red Raiders 103-88 in the first meeting in Orange City.

Concordia University (21-10): Chris Johnstone 4-7 0-0 9, Eli Ziegler 5-16 2-2 15, Seth Curran 2-4 3-4 9, Tanner Shuck 4-11 2-2 12, Chandler Folkerts 6-9 2-2 14, Brevin Sloup 1-1 0-0 3, Kyle Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Clay Reimers 3-4 2-2 8, Jake Hornick 5-11 2-2 14, Justin Damme 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 33-68 13-14 90.
Dakota Wesleyan University (23-8): Trae Vandeberg 10-17 2-2 24, Tate Martin 5-12 0-0 12, Aaron Ahmadu 3-6 0-0 8, Ty Hoglund 13-20 7-10 37, Jason Spicer 5-8 7-11 17, Nate Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Kaleb Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Collin Kramer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-63 16-23 98.
Halftime: Concordia 47-43. 3-point field goals: CU 11-33 (Johnstone 1-2, Ziegler 3-9, Curran 2-4, Shuck 2-9, Sloup 1-1, Hornick 2-7, Damme 0-1); DWU 10-19 (Vandeberg 2-5, Martin 2-3, Ahmadu 2-3, Hoglund 4-8). Rebounds: CU 28 (Folkerts 10); DWU 29 (Vandeberg 7, Hoglund 7, Spicer 7). Steals: CU 6 (Shuck 2, Reimer 2); DWU 5 (Hoglund 3). Assists: CU 14 (Curran 6); DWU 16 (Martin 7). Blocked shots: CU 1 (Damme 1); DWU 1 (Spicer 1). Turnovers: CU 10; DWU 10. Total fouls: CU 22; DWU 16. Attendance: 2,761.

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