A month in to the winter season

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is in just a few days. Stranger yet -- the 2010-11 basketball season is a month old already! Only four more months to go!

The Tigers opened Great Plains Athletic Conference play Saturday against Dordt College, and they play another league game tonight when they host Morningside College. The men's game against the Defenders was much closer than DWU would have liked, I would imagine, although it was good to see us get a win considering we were down by nine in the first half.

DWU played well on Saturday, but was never able to make that one big play that it needed to pull away and really seal the game. The game wasn't necessarily as close as the final score (84-80) indicated, but it was definitely closer than it should have been. One thing I'm noticing: Brady Wiebe needs to get the ball more early in the game. He still manages a double-double on a regular basis, but he doesn't get as many touches as he should in the first half. Dordt did a great job defending him to start, though.

Something to watch for tonight: Chase Walder is nine points away from 1,000 for his career. He's scored at least 20 points for the past few games, so that shouldn't be a problem for him. That will be an exciting moment.

The women played well against Dordt, but they have so many injuries right now you can tell they get tired pretty easily. I think it could be a bit of a different game if everyone was healthy and coach Christensen could sub when he wanted to/needed to. They're going through some growing pains, but I think there's plenty of potential.

Off to the Palace to set up for the game. Who ya rootin for?

Fall season is officially over

Well, the all-conference teams are being announced, which means only one thing: the fall sports season must be over. I can't believe it's done already; it seems like it was just September and I was freaking out about getting everything going and figuring everything out! Now it's on to winter sports -- basketball and wrestling -- and, unfortunately, winter weather. Yuck.

This blog isn't about weather, though, and really -- I've lived in the Midwest my whole life, so nasty weather is nothing new to me.

Anyway... it was quite a fall sports season for several of our teams here at DWU. The football team wrapped up its season with a loss to No. 7 Morningside College Saturday afternoon. The Tigers finished 5-5, which is the second-best record in coach Brad Pole's six years at the helm. A few slight changes here and there and the Tigers could have been 7-3... but that's all in the past, and 5-5 is nothing to be ashamed of. DWU had some big wins, set a few records (Josh Endres for the most rushing yards in a game, Anthony Muilenburg for the most catches in a game) and learned a thing or two. It's sad to see all the seniors go, but exciting to think about what next year brings.

Both soccer teams made it deep into the GPAC playoffs. The men made it to the semifinals in their first-ever trip to the GPAC tournament, and lost in double overtime. It was an exciting game, and a hard way to end the season, but again -- nothing to be ashamed of. The women made it to the GPAC title game for the second straight year, but fell to Hastings, which seems to be a step ahead of everyone in the league this year. Goalie Dani Richardson is the league's co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year for the second straight year, and the Tigers had four girls (Richardson, Ellie Peterson, Kasha Roberts and Sarah Weidler) on the All-GPAC First Team.

Since fall sports are over, we've got to have something to fill our time here in the athletic department. Lucky for us, the basketball teams both have had a fairly full nonconference schedule for the past few weeks. The Tiger men are 5-1 with a few huge wins under their belts. Their only loss was to Southwest Minnesota State, a (very good) NCAA Division II school. DWU beat No. 6 Black Hills State in overtime, and most recently, beat in-state rival Dakota State by 14 points in overtime.

As expected, Brady Wiebe is having an excellent season, and senior Chase Walder is also having a fantastic year. He scored 28 points -- all in the second half and overtime -- against Dakota State, and his 3-point shots have kept the Tigers in games. Newcomers German Madueno and Kris Wilson have also played big roles for the Tigers.

The Tiger women are young this year, and are 0-5 as I write this with a game at York College tonight. DWU starts a freshman, two sophomores a junior and a senior, but is dealing with quite a few injuries and, of course, the learning curve that comes with having so many true freshmen on the roster.

The Tiger men and women open GPAC play Saturday (Nov. 20) when they host Dordt College. Should be a fun game. Who ya rootin for?

Basketball season is here!

Well, ready or not it's officially basketball season. I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the past two days trying to get everything ready. I had myself really worked up for awhile, but I think everything's under control. We'll find out in about two hours when the Dakota State/Graceland University game tips off at the Corn Palace!

This weekend, the DWU Fulton State Bank Classic will be the public's first look at the brand new DWU men's basketball team. I know I'm curious to see how things are going to go, and I work at the school! I haven't watched any practices yet, so tonight will be interesting, and telling.

Tonight will also answer questions that have been lingering since June when former coach John Hemenway announced his resignation. Will Shane Murphy be able to keep the Tigers at the level off success they've been at for the last few years? Will DWU be able to survive without Preston Broughton and Darrin Dorsey? And who are Larry Swann, Tristan Washington and German Madueno, and are they any good?

Madueno and Swann, along with Demetrius Davis, were the probable starters for tonight along with two very familiar faces -- Brady Wiebe and Chase Walder. I am curious to see what the team dynamic is like this year, and how everything is going to look. And also -- who's going to do the dunking now that both Broughton and Dorsey are gone?

One thing that sticks out to me about losing some very key players and having a group of unknowns is the 2008-09 season. That was the year that we lost Broughton before the season started, Colby Fitzgerald went down with a knee injury a few games in and every other player on the team got hurt at some point or another. Even that year, the Tigers made it to nationals, and experienced a great deal of success. We have enough returners this year, and talented newcomers, that as long as we stay healthy, hopefully we can retain the success that the program and its fans have become used to.

Off to the Palace for last minute preparations. Who ya rootin for?

Basketball.. already??

I'll just skip my little intro about how fast time goes at DWU and get right into blogging this time since it's been... well... a little while since my last blog.

The Tiger football team faltered a bit after an amazing start. They got to 3-0 before giving up fourth-quarter, last-minute touchdowns to both Midland University and Nebraska Wesleyan University, so they fell to 3-2. Both games were heart breaking to watch and listen to. Against Midland, DWU was fourth and inches -- literally -- away from a first down and, likely, a touchdown and then the win. In the NWU game, it was a bad punt and (I'm guessing) a few missed tackles that allowed the Prairie Wolves to return a punt for a touchdown in the last minute and pull away for the win.

What a day the Tigers had last week against Hastings, though. That was fun to watch. Correction: Josh Endres was fun to watch. He went off for 316 rushing yards, three touchdowns and a school record, and all of his touchdowns came just when the Tigers needed them most. Watching him from the top of the press box at Joe Quintal Field, you can tell he used to be one of the state's top high school Class B sprinters. He left the Broncos' defenders in the dust when he broke free for his 65- and 73-yard touchdown runs. Josh is the co-GPAC Offensive Player of the Week this week, but didn't get the NAIA award. Apparently someone threw for more than 600 yards in a game.

Leif Evers was also recognized by the GPAC this week after yet another solid game. For someone who just made the switch from soccer to football this fall, he's doing exceptionally well. He's missed just two point-after attempts, and both of those were in the Dordt game. Saturday, he hit two field goals, including a 46-yarder. (I thought that might be at least close to a school record... not quite. The school record is 60 yards. He's got a ways to go.) Leif is this week's GPAC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Now comes the tough portion of the Tigers' schedule. They're at top-ranked Sioux Falls this week but, call me crazy, I think it will be close. USF isn't nearly as dominant this year as it has been in the past, and if you look at stats, the two teams are actually similar. Except at the quarterback position, where Jon Eastman has just been dominating the GPAC. But if DWU's offense plays like it can, Endres has another big day and Jon Bane throws for a few yards... you never know. That would be epic.

But... I'm getting ahead of myself. We'll see on Saturday. After that, DWU travels to No. 15 Northwestern before hosting Briar Cliff and No. 8 Morningside to end the season. 6-0 would have been pretty great right now... but you can't change the past, you can only control your destiny, so I'll just keep hoping for a Tiger win.

Even though we still have four more football games left, I've been having to think about basketball an awful lot lately because the men start their season in less than TWO WEEKS! The Tigers host the DWU Fulton State Bank Classic Oct. 29 and 30. Crazy. I'm excited, but wow. Basketball in October? Who knew!

I think I'll leave writing about basketball for the next post... that will give me a reason to write later this week (as opposed to next month). Go Tigers!

Good starts all around

It's crazy how time manages to escape me every day. I think I'll have a few minutes to update, and something else comes up. Such is life in the world of college athletics!

The fall sports season is well under way at DWU, and all of our teams have tasted success early in the year. The football and women's soccer teams are undefeated, the volleyball team hosted its first-ever tournament at the Corn Palace and the women's golf team has a lead after the first GPAC qualifier, to name a few.

The biggest talk around campus, of course, is the football team. The Tigers are 2-0 for the first time since 2002 and shut out an opponent for the first time in GPAC history. DWU's offense and defense both rolled last Saturday in its 56-0 win over Concordia. DWU gave up less than 100 yards of offense but finished with 471 yards of total offense. Freshman QB Jon Bane has been solid in both starts, and Brennon Flannery, another freshman, has been a steady backup. Raymond "Boogie" Blossom and Josh Endres seem to be the go-to guys for the running game, and Russell McGuire is fitting in nicely with the receiving corps after seeing time as backup QB for the last two years.

The Tigers' special teams unit is glad to have senior Nick Tolsma back. Not that it suffered last year with Derek Carlson, but Tolsma is back near the top of the NAIA for average punt yards and is making sure DWU opponents don't get a short field.

The women's soccer team hasn't lost to a GPAC opponent since the 2008 season and is 5-0 so far with three shutouts. The Tiger men are a single win away from matching last year's win total just seven games in. Both opened league play Wednesday; the women won 4-0, while the men lost 3-2.

The volleyball team is 4-11 so far, but has shown flashes of brilliance against some top-ranked teams. The Tigers held a lead against No. 24 Dordt for much of the second set in their three-set game, and played strong all three sets. DWU hosted a volleyball tournament at the Corn Palace for the first time ever this past weekend, and it seemed to be a success.

Dani Bellet and the women's golf team got solid starts in the conference race. DWU hosted the first GPAC qualifier of the season, and Dani shot a 1-under 71 to take a nine-stroke lead while the Tigers snagged an eight-stroke team lead. The men took third at the first qualifier, led by sophomore Travis Johnson's second-place finish.

The cross country team hosted an invite for the first time since 2008 earlier this month. Gail McIntrye took eighth individually and the Tiger women took third as a team.

Football has the weekend off, but soccer hosts Dana and cross country is at the Dakota State Invite. No home games next week until Saturday when volleyball plays Morningside at Hanson High School in Alexandria, S.D., and the soccer teams host Concordia.

Here's hoping that the next few weeks go as well as the last few weeks for Tiger sports!

And... the 2010-11 season is here!

It's been a busy few weeks of trying to get myself acclimated at Dakota Wesleyan and getting everything in order for the upcoming sports seasons. Well, ready or not, it's here! The volleyball team is at the Northwestern Red Raider Classic today and tomorrow in Orange City, Iowa, and the women's golf team also made the trip to Orange City for a Northwestern invite. Bring on the stats and scores!

Before the seasons get too far under way, I wanted to put in a shameless plug for Dakota Wesleyan athletics online. Our athletics website will always be updated, but there are several other places to check scores, stats and anything else you might want to know about your favorite Tiger athletic team. Individual mug shots should be up very soon for all of the fall sports, and we're working on getting winter and some spring sports up, too, so you can see who's who on the teams this season.

There is always, of course, this blog, or you can follow DWU sports on Twitter. That's a general Twitter account kept up by me for all sports. DWU football, wrestling and softball also have their own Twitter accounts you can check on.

Then, of course, everyone's favorite -- Facebook. On my (ever-growing) to-do list is getting DWU Athletics on Facebook, but that hasn't happened yet. You will be the first to know when it does, however. In the meantime, DWU golf and wrestling have Facebook pages. Head volleyball coach Eric Viney also has a blog for the Tiger volleyball team and Brad Pole will keep you up to date on football in his football blog.

So, if you're surfing around the internet and need a new place to visit, check out one of those many links! I'm going to try to keep Twitter updated with scores, and I'll try to do more up-to-date recaps each week on this blog.

Go Tigers!

That time of year

Is it just me, or did summer just fly by?

I suppose that's what happens when you switch jobs mid-summer and take on a Sports Information Director position just weeks before the athletic seasons start.

Perhaps I should introduce myself -- my name is Leah Rado, and I'm the new SID at Dakota Wesleyan. I took over July 26 for Matt Higgins, who is now the Assistant to the Executive Director (anyone watch The Office? Anyone?) for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

I come to Dakota Wesleyan after three years at The Daily Republic, Mitchell's six-day-a-week newspaper. I was a sports reporter for a year (with Matt as my boss) and then sports editor for two years before making the jump to 'the other side' -- public relations.

So far, so good with the new job. My to-do list is getting more and more manageable by the day, although I don't think I will ever get completely caught up. Football moved in today, and the rest of the sports check in later this week or early next week, so things will only get busier from here!

One of the first things I got to do with my new position was make the trek to Lincoln, Neb., for the Great Plains Athletic Conference football media day. I'd never been to something like this as anything but a reporter, so it was neat for me to watch and listen (and not have to worry about pounding out a story on deadline).

The one thing that struck me as each of the coaches spoke was the respect between the coaches. The University of Sioux Falls and Morningside were picked first and second, respectively, in the preseason coaches' poll, but they got up and praised other teams and admitted that each team in the league should be tough this year.

It was also neat to hear the coaches talk about some of the hardships the league suffered this summer. Dana College closed its doors in late July, sending ADs and GPAC Commissioner Corey Westra into a scheduling frenzy. A few weeks later, both Midland Lutheran and Dordt lost a student athlete in an accident. It seems that all the GPAC coaches offered help and support to the two campuses who lost an athlete, and the entire GPAC community pulled together to find a place for Dana students to play, live and study.

That just goes to show that, despite the intense rivalaries these schools may have, everyone understands there's more to life than winning and losing.

OK, enough with the heavy stuff. Fall sports seasons start soon, so there will be plenty going on in the coming weeks. The DWU football team was picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches' poll an the volleyball team was tabbed 11th. If I had to guess, I would say both will surprise a team or two in the 2010 season.

Redemption

For anyone who read the recap on the DWU athletics site about yesterday's baseball doubleheader (CLICK HERE), you already know about the fascinating win in game one win, in which DWU turned a 5-0 deficit into a 6-5 walk-off win.

If the Tigers go on to win the GPAC (currently a half-game behind Mount Marty in the standings) I think they'll point to this win as the one where they really started to put it all together. The way they played in the final innings and the resillience they showed in coming back was impressive to say the least.

There were several stars in that win, but obviously the discussion has to start with Casey Solem. A GPAC Gold Glove winner a year ago, Solem misplayed a bases-loaded, two-out fly to center that resulted in three runs and the 5-0 hole for the Tigers. So what did the DWU star do to atone? Only drill an RBI double to help spark the comeback, and then deliver the game-winning, walk-off hit with two-on and two-out in the bottom of the seventh. In baseball, players make mistakes, but you can learn a lot about a player from how they respond to those mistakes. I think everyone at Cadwell Park and possible the entire conference learned a lot about the kind of player, and person, Casey Solem is on Friday.

I was almost equally impressed with the resolve of Ethan Opsahl. After pitching a heck of a game, it's entirely possible for a pitcher to come unraveled after his defense makes a game-changing error like that. However, Opsahl kept his composure beautifully and kept putting up zeroes as the offense finally came alive and got the Tigers back into the game. Opsahl was rewarded with the win, and it was certainly well-deserved after a great performance.

Also, Nick Loera's growth as a hitter was evident Friday. After battling with injuries last year, it was still evident the shortstop had loads of a talent - a great glove and a good bat. But lately Loera has really blossomed. His opposite-field home run started the scoring in the comeback, and he added a huge RBI single to get DWU within a run in the sixth. His hitting has really made the Tiger lineup dangerous.

In the second game, there were a few interesting storylines as well. The first is DWU's 1-2 combo of Solem and Mario Mendoza. If there's a better combo in the GPAC, I can't wait to see it. The two was at its best after Northwestern tied the game 2-2. Solem led off the next inning with a blast over the right-field wall. In a great display of one-upsmanship, Mendoza came up and hit an even deeper bomb. Fittingly, both players are tied for the team lead in home runs with seven apiece. It was almost as if once Solem hit one, Mendoza had to hit one too to get back in a tie for the team lead. It will be fun to watch these two battle for the team's home run crown the rest of the way.

By the numbers, Mendoza is hitting .472 with eight doubles, seven homers and 27 RBI. Solem is hitting .462 with six doubles, five triples, seven homers and 37 RBI.

The other important development Friday is the improvement of starting pitcher Jeff Sanchez. He gave up just two runs over six innings in game two for his second great start and second-straight GPAC win, and he's developed into a solid No. 3 starter for the Tigers behind Phil Johnson and Opsahl.

Hopefully the Tigers can play well again Sunday. Defending GPAC regular-season champ Nebraska Wesleyan comes to Cadwell for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. Though the Prairie Wolves are off to kind of a slow start in GPAC play, they still have a great team and some of the league's best pitching, so another sweep would be a huge step towards challening for this year's league title for Steve Gust's squad.

Also, let's hope Sunday's doubleheader goes quick. I have to head out of town immediately after the games so I can get to Minneapolis for the Twins' first game at Target Field on Monday afternoon. Here's hoping for a pair of shutouts Sunday, and clear skies in the cities for outdoor baseball!

Tournament Time

Sorry for the lack of blogs after the onslaught of them in Branson, but the truth is that National Tournament can be draining. I'm sure some people think it's all golf courses and hospitality rooms for an SID at the National Tournament, but I felt like I was working almost the entire time we were there, and after the deflating way it came to an end, I think everyone involved needed a little break.

Plus, I always have some scheduled vacation for right after the National Tournament. Since college, my friends make a point to all get together for the first four days of the NCAA tournament, and this year was no exception. I spent a long weekend in the Minneapolis area watching basketball, seeing some great people I don't get to see often enough, and finally relaxing after the hectic stretch that is fall and winter sports. Spring sports are busy too, but not the way the fall and winter are. It was great to stop and catch my breath before moving on to spring. Oh, and I got to go to an open house at Target Field. That was OK, too.

It was back to business in a big way yesterday with both the DWU baseball and softball home openers. I hope the softball team will be encouraged with the way they play in a pair of 2-0 and 4-0 losses to Dordt College. Simple enough, the Tigers need to hit. I was impressed by their freshman pitchers, Roni Nekrassoff and Kelsey Timmons, and the defense was solid save for one crucial inning, but if DWU's bats can come around, they can win a lot of games with that pitching and fielding. I like the athleticism in the outfield, and if this core sticks around, this could be a great team in a year or two. They could use a finished press box at their new field, too, so I can actually block some of the glare that made my computer nearly impossible to see.

I got over to the baseball doubleheader just in time for the drama of game two. In a tie game in the bottom of the seventh, it appeared like DWU had stolen the winning run into scoring position with one out, but the umps called the runner out on batter interference and despite a great bit of arguing out of the Ron Gardenhire or Lou Pinella's book by head coach Steve Gust, the call stood and Southwest Minnesota State dodged the bullet.

However, it couldn't dodge the big bullet an inning later when Casey Solem blasted a walk-off home run, setting of a classic home-plate mobbing. What a way to end the home opener. I don't want to brag either, but that blast was called by a certain SID up in the press box. That makes me 2-for-2 this year after also predicting Anthony Muilenburg's kick return for a touchdown during football season. Now, there are probably some people who are going to say I misfired on a few calls during the year during football, volleyball or basketball (quiet down, Clint Farrar and Jon Hart) but as far as I'm concerned, I'm still batting 1.000.

Getting this blog going during the NAIA National Tournament has re-energized me for this type of writing, so I'm hoping to start another blog soon. I'll keep this one purely Tiger related, and I'm hoping to use the other as an outlet to share some thoughts about my other favorite teams - the Twins, Gophers, Packers, etc. - as well as music and entertainment. To start to get in the flow, here are some of my quick hit thoughts about the NCAA Tournament thus far.

-There's no "I" in "Team" but according to Digger Phelps there's an "R" in "Washington."

-When will CBS figure out the dream announcing team for the Final Four and Championship game is Gus Johnson with Bill Raftery. They're the best. Give Jim Nantz some time off to get ready for The Masters. Nantz is perfect for golf, chess and the national spelling bee, but give me Gus and Raftery for any big basketball game.

-Thursday was probably the single best day of First-Round action I can ever remember. I loved the first day in 2000 too, when you Mitchell people will recall Mike Miller's game-winner to help Florida beat Butler, but almost every single game this Thursday was excellent. And I partly loved that 2000 tourney becasue that's where the March Madness tradition was born with my friends, crammed into Room 169 in Frontier Hall at the University of Minnesota. Since then, it's been my favorite time of the year.

-I was born and raised a Big Ten guy, and I love seeing them put the most teams in the Sweet 16, even with Michigan State and Purdue missing their stars. And Evan Turner is hands-down the best player in college basketball this season. Hands down. However, the maroon and gold that runs through my veins had me rooting hard for Wofford, and silently celebrating Cornell's thrashing of Bucky. I'm a fan of any situation where Andy Bernard celebrates, and Bo Ryan (a great, great coach) goes back to selling used cars.

-I am so sick of that "Bags Fly Free" commercial. And every single ad for that movie where the girl is out of the guy's league. Awful.

-It's 7:27 p.m. on Thursday, Syracuse just got a huge alley-oop dunk off an inbounds pass and Gus Johnson just yelled "INSIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!" He's the best.

-What's your favorite "little" aspect of a basketball game? Mine is when a jump shot hits only backboard and comes flying back off. Always hilarious.

Alright, that's enough for now. I'll check back in this weekend with my final thoughts from the NAIA tournament. Good luck to all the DWU teams on the road, and if you're like me, enjoy the next four days of college hoops!

Quick Pregame Update

Checking in quick from courtside before DWU tips off. Indiana Wesleyan is beating Eastern Oregon and former Tiger coach Adam Tyhurst 57-46 with 4:09 left, and I am inclined to call Indiana Wesleyan the best team I've seen here so far. I haven't seen a few squads like No. 1 Walsh, but Indiana Wesleyan appears to have it all ... and they've hit some clutch shots here down the stretch.

The game before this was No. 2 Oregon Tech vs. No. 15 Saint Francis, and St. Francis pulled off the upset to advance to Saturday's Elite Eight. The winner of our game will meet St. Francis tomorrow at 6 p.m. If you remember, one of our five losses came to the Cougars in Chicago at the St. Xavier tournament, so if you're going to play anyone without any prep time, it might as well be someone you've already seen. For the box score of that game, click HERE.

Tonight's game against Cornerstone will be a tough one. They're a good, versatile team with lots of size, but if we play well, I think we've learned that we're as good as anyone else at this tournament. Hopeully our guys are focused and ready to go.

There's 2:20 left in this game now, IWU still up 10. Looks like they'll move on. Time to sign off and get ready to watch the Tigers hopefully play their way into the Elite Eight. Again ... who ya rootin for?

QUICK NOTE: Up until this point, Darrin Dorsey is leading the tournament in assists per game. Let's hope he keeps that up.

Another photo blog

Hello from the Keeter Gymnasium's media room. I've been wanting to post these pics, and finally got some time now while our coaches are scouting the Oregon Tech-St. Francis game, because we'll hopefully face the winner tomorrow night in the Elite Eight.

Anyway, here a look at some of Tuesday's best moments.

It's possible that Associate A.D. Cory Aadland and I were able to get in 18 holes of golf on Tuesday. We played at John Daly's Murder Rock up in the mountains, and fortunately we picked the nicest day. It was a little windy, but I was in shorts and a polo shirt and won't complain compared to the weather in Mitchell.

DWU A.D. Curt Hart, with the Tiger team as his backdrop, addresses and thanks the crowd at our pre-game reception at the Hotel Grand Victorian Tuesday afternoon. Roughly 100 fans showed up to with the Tigers luck before the game that night.

Our Honorary Coaches, Eric and Chris, run out for introductions before the game. They run the best Mexican restaraunt in Branson, Cantina Laredo. Actually, it could be the best Mexican restaraunt anywhere.

Mitch Bain is introduced to the crowd.

Kevin Ball recevies a Champion of Character award before the game.

The Tigers take the court for tip off.

Cue One Shining Moment...."The ball is tipped..."

Coach John Hemenway gladly answers questions from Tim Smith and Bob Sprang during the postgame interview on KMIT. Always easy to go on the radio and talk about a great win.

And finally, DWU Associate A.D. Cory Aadland said he was leaving Thursday to head back to Mitchell, but if that's true, then why was he suited up for Virginia Wise? Curt, you better look into this.

Photo by the talented Matt Culhane.

I'm gonna run and watch the second half of OIT and St. Francis, so I can have some insights in case we end up playing one of them tomorrow.

I'll end this post with a quick story from today. On the way back from our noon shootaround, everyone on the bus heard a car horn frantically honking. We looked up, and in the Wal-Mart parking lot we saw some dedicated DWU fans all hanging out of a van and going crazy cheering for the bus. It's possible they were Tiger football players. But as we got off the bus a minute or two later, everyone was still laughing and smiling, and Coach Hemenway even said, "That just made my day." Just a glimpse at the great fan support we're getting down here. Tiger Fever is spreading throughout Branson!

Tip off in two hours. Who ya rootin' for?

Another eventful day

I'm sure today was a great off-day for the DWU players and coaches to get rested, refocused and ready to take on No. 10 Cornerstone tomorrow in the Sweet 16. It didn't feel like much of an off-day for me, though. At least I got to sleep in.

Today the Tigers had a short shoot-around with a little bit of prep at Branson High School. It was pretty low-key, and with the possibility of playing both Friday and Saturday if all goes well, it seemed like a good idea to get in the gym and loosen up a little, but stay away from anything too taxing to conserve our energy for Cornerstone and, hopefully, beyond. One interesting thing about these type of events is some of the connections out there. Embry-Riddle from Daytona Beach, Fla., had the court before us, and one of their players was exicted when he saw Brady Wiebe take the floor for our shootaround. Apparently this kid had spent a year at Dakota State in Wiebe's hometown of Madison before transferring to Embry-Riddle. You wouldn't think players from DWU and schools in Florida would know one another, but as that scary ride at Disney taught me, it's a small world.

After that, I had the pleasure of typing our entire box score from last night into our stats program. Without getting too boring, our conference uses a program called Stat Crew for all our sports statistics. The NAIA uses a different program (and other conferences do as well) so I can't use their stat file at all...I need to make my own. Which means typing in each players' stat line and all the team stats. Exciting, right? Thanks, NAIA.

For all you stat-heads out there, you may have noticed that our stats from last night aren't good. I don't know exactly who was doing them, but Preston Broughton had to have more than three rebounds, Mark Mingo got a steal that didn't make it in, Brady Wiebe was down for a missed 3-pointer, but I don't remember him ever letting one fly from that far out. One would think that a National Tournament would take things like official statistics very seriously, and maybe our game was an anomaly, but I'm hoping it's better Friday night.

After getting our stats squared away, I wrote my official preview (link at the bottom) for tomorrow's game. I put most of my limited analysis on Cornerstone into that preview, but here are some things I didn't include ... Their big guys are very good, and they do a lot of different things for them, and the whole team plays really hard. However, I really like our guards to have big games. This seems like the type of game where Darrin Dorsey could really control things the whole way, and I think Mitch Bain could also have a big night. If our big guys can just play their post players to a draw, which is entirely possible, I think our guards can win it for us.

Having said that, we need to avoid foul trouble. Brady Wiebe and Preston Broughton need to be on the court. I wrote down the time when each guy picked up his second foul in the first half of Wednesday's game, hoping those times would end up being insignificant, which they did. However, they'll have to do a good job again Friday of staying on the floor. On the flip side, if we could get their three bigs into foul trouble, that could really swing things in our favor.

Finally, I was not impressed with the way Cornerstone handled itself down the stretch. The Golden Eagles just never seemed comfortable or poised in the win over Ozarks. They were up six with just over a minute left, and I said to a few different people that they would be lucky to win, and they were. Ozarks hit a 3, got a turnover, scored and then had the ball and a chance to win but didn't execute on the final posession. I didn't like how Cornerstone handled its posessions down the stretch. They didn't run enough clock or take very good shots, and they even passed up some WIDE open looks from the perimeter. Meanwhile, we've been extremely poised in crunch time and have played well in the final minutes of close games since New Years, so even if we're behind and the clock starts winding down...have faith.

After getting some work done, I joined our coaches at the Eastern Oregon-Davenport game. Congrats to Coach Tyhurst and Eastern Oregon on a good win after Davenport shot the lights out from the outside in the first half. Then we had dinner at our sponsor's restaraunt, Cantina Laredo, which was amazing. They've been great hosts as part of the "Honorary Coaches" program, where the tournament pairs a business or two up with each team so you can feel connected to the community. Our honorary coaches - Chris and Eric - have been great since we arrived, and seriously, if you like Mexican food and are in Branson, go there. It's down on the landing (link also coming later in this post).

At dinner I got caught up on how the players' expedition to the go-kart/mini-golf place was this afternoon. I'm happy to report that everyone surivived the go-karts without injury. And according to Mitch Bain, he was the best at mini golf, while Darrin Dorsey and Bo LaCroix were the worst.

Finally, I finished my night back at the gym. Northwesern College's SID, Matt Bos, runs the media room at the National Tournament and writes most of the content for the NAIA site about the tourney. While I'm down here, I volunteered my releases for our games to help him out and I also offered to write the NAIA story for the Hastings-Cardinal Stritch game. I went back to the gym a little early and caught the end of the Jamestown-Oklahoma Wesleyan game. Jamestown had good chances but couldn't make free throws or threes down the stretch, and this is not the same OWU team that won the title last year. It's still a very good team, but not quite as good as the 09 version.

Here's my shameless plug for this blog: I flashed some pretty quick hands catching an errant pass at the press table in the second half of the Hastings game. Cardinal Stritch's SID, David Sneig, was doing their radio broadcast right next to me and even gave me a shoutout for the catch on the air and I got thumbs-up from Tim Smith and "The Coach" Bob Sprang from their seats. However, it was quickly forgotten as minutes later a Stritch player crashed through Pete Hansen's TV monitor on the press table and into the first row of seats while trying to save a loose ball. Fortunately, the player went back in after a quick examination and the TV monitor was restored to working order.

Hastings won, making a 3-0 sweep for the GPAC in the first round. It definitely helps our conference's national rep that we've got three of the Sweet 16. However, the Broncos made it interesting by shooting just 3-for-28 from three. Their freshman center took over and had a huge game, including 14 points in the final 5 mintues as Hastings came back from 15 down in the second half. If you're scoring at home, DWU is the only GPAC team that DIDN'T need a miraculous comeback to advance. Hopefully that will have us fresher for Friday.

Alright. It's bedtime. Here are some links:

CLICK HERE for my preview of DWU and Cornerstone.

CLICK HERE for LA Sports Riot's latest pod cast, featuring DWU head coach John Hemenway, which was taped this evening while we were at dinner at Cantina Laredo. You may recognize some of the info Logan Anderson uses during the interview as things that were broken first by this blog...

CLICK HERE for College Fanz' video highlights of DWU's first round win. (if it will play for you...still loading for me).

CLICK HERE for the DWU Tiger Fan Blog...lots of great updates about the tourney.

CLICK HERE for the Daily Republic's preview of the Cornerstone game.

CLICK HERE for Leah Rado's Tiger Zone blog as she makes her way to cover the team in Branson.

And finally, Cantina Laredo's site. Delicious, and now great friends to the Tiger program.

Now I'm really going to bed. Final thought...

Best comment to an official at the tourney so far: (while holding up a cell phone) "This must be your phone because it has three missed calls!"

Looking back a great win

So the monkey is off our backs, the cat is out of the bag or any other dumb saying you can think of. Regardless, DWU has a tournament win and is hopefully just getting started. Last night the Tigers played great in stretches and just OK in stretches - including a long field goal drought in each half - but they did enough to win pretty convicingly and were hopefully working out some of the nerves and getting acclimated to their surroundings. It was a great win, we had an oustanding crowd, and people will remember this win for a long time.

Here are some links with stories from last night:

CLICK HERE for the official DWU release

CLICK HERE for the Mitchell Daily Republic's story

CLICK HERE f0r the NAIA's story (wow...it's a lot like mine!) and a good picture of Darrin Dorsey

CLICK HERE for the NAIA's Day One recap, featuring a photo of DWU's devoted fans

I'm heading to the gym now to watch former DWU coach Adam Tyhurst's Eastern Oregon team, then we have dinner at our sponsor - Catina Laredo (highly recommended if you're in Branson and like Mexican food). I'll check in later with a look ahead to Cornerstone and some pictures from last night's game. It sure feels Sweet to be in the Sweet 16.

Before I sign off...here's yesterday's Observation of the Day from DWU A.D. Curt Hart...

"Wow, this is a nice campus. They even have a house for their geese!"

It's true, Ozarks has a pond on campus, with a little house on an island in the middle of the pond.

Finally, thanks to all our fans for the great support yesterday and for the great turnout at our reception at the hotel. There were around 100 Tiger fans in attendance, and it was a great way to kick off the tournament.

And we're off...

Hello from a luxury courtside seat at the first game of the tournament. Two of our od friends, Sioux Falls and Grand View, are playing about how you'd expect for 8:30 a.m. ... sluggish and pretty sloppy. Sioux Falls led 16-8 early, but Grand View is up now 25-24. Today's most frequent officiating trend thus far: the carry. Keep that hand on top of the ball tonight, boys.

It's about 12 hours til tip off, so here are some previews of tonight's game.

CLICK HERE for the official DWU preview.

CLICK HERE for the Mitchell Daily Republic's preview.

CLICK HERE for McPherson College's preview.

Grand View is still a step ahead of Sioux Falls, 35-33 with 11:33 left. High scoring is not how one would describe this game.

For fans who made the trip, just a reminder to come to today's social in Bransn at the Hotel Grand Victorian at 4:30 p.m. The team will be there from 4 to 5 p.m. and the athletic department will have refreshments on hand.

If you're still in Mitchell, the Sherman Center will be showing the game tonight, with the doors opening at 9:30 p.m. for the 9:45 p.m. tip off.

Whatever you do, wear blue and white and think positive thoughts for our first National Tournament win since 1947. Go Tigers!

Practice Pics

Here are the photos I took at today's practice. The official DWU SID camera isn't necessarily equipped to take top-notch action photos, but you get what you pay for. Still, here's a good look at the Tigers' Tuesday workout at Branson East Elementary School.

The team gets loose at the start of practice as the coaches have a deep conversation in the background.

Brady Wiebe and Chase Walder do some tandem stretching as a Branson East gym class looks on.

The Tigers huddle up to officially get the workout started in front of a captive audience.

Preston Broughton throws one down.

Darrin Dorsey dunks. Elementary school kids cheer.

Bo LaCroix gets in on the dunking fun.

The Branson East PE class looks on attentively, save the girl second from right.

Someone should have told her the Tigers have the longest active winning streak in the nation.

Jordan Long, Preston Broughton and Chase Walder go for the rebound on a Darrin Dorsey free throw.

The National Tournament tips off tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. with USF/Grand View. There may also be a top-notch breakfast in the hospitality room. That means it's bed time. Goodnight. Go Tigers.

Preview and Practice

It's been an eventful day in Branson, and I'm happy to report that the Tigers appear ready and poised to open tournament play tomorrow. I'll post links to all the previews I can find for tomorrow's game when I get up in the morning (likely from the gym during USF's 8:30 a.m. game), but here's a quick idea of what to expect from McPherson.

Athletic. Quick. Up-tempo.

The Bulldogs are a guard-oriented team led by six players that all average between 7 and 13 points per game. They'll press, they'll run and they'll hit the glass extremely hard.

One thing they won't have is two All-Americans in the front court. They do have one very good, very athletic 6-6 big man in senior forward Antowine Lamb (10.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg), but DWU will counter with Brady Wiebe (18.0 ppg, 9.9 rpg) AND Preston Broughton (15.5 ppg, 8.8 rpg). My guess is Lamb matches up with Broughton because of both player's athleticism, which should leave Wiebe with a pretty favorable matchup inside. McPherson hasn't played a lot of zone, but they might have to try it against the DWU frontcourt. And typically, when you force teams to do things they're not accustomed to doing, it's almost always a good sign.

That doesn't mean DWU's guards aren't also capable of having great games. Darrin Dorsey (18.3 ppg, 5.8 apg, 5.0 rpg) and Mitch Bain (10.3 ppg) should match up pretty well with McPherson's good backcourt of Mike Reece (13. ppg) and Marlon Dominique (9.9 ppg). If the Tigers can control penetration and avoid getting killed on the offensive glass, they should have a great shot to win and advance for the first time in the DII tourney.

Today's practice at Branson East Elementary was a good one for the Tigers, and coach John Hemenway said he was pleased with the way his guys got after it and prepared. I've seen quite a few DWU practices over the last three years, and one thing I took away from today's session was the Tiger coaches do a great job of tweaking even basic fundamental drills so they help the players prepare for an opponent or a style of play. They did a lot of little things that should help against the press, and there's just a little different feeling this year. A little more confidence, a little more focus. Dakota Wesleyan is ready to go.

The other thing I took away from today's practice - with how good DWU's starters are, it's easy to forget just how talented and athletic some of the reserves are. I was particularly impressed after getting an extended look at freshmen Bo LaCroix and Matt Dykstra. Both are MUCH more athletic than I thought, and both have shown flashes of their potential this season. I think big things could be ahead for these two as their playing time increases throughout their careers.

One interesting twist at practice: since it was at Branson East Elementary, the Tigers had 2nd and 4th grade PE classes observing from the sidelines. A couple dunks really excited the young crowd, I just hope none were taking notes and giving them to Ozarks in case that's our second-round matchup.

The best off-court story today? Darrin Dorsey's desire to ride the Branson Ducks. While the team was planning how to spend the afternoon after practice and lunch, Dorsey actually started a "Ducks" chant on the bus. Some people might ignore this, but I think it's a good sign that DWU's star is embracing all Branson has to offer. Hopefully Dorsey and his teammates can keep us here awhile so he can see all the sights. Quack...quack...quack...

I'm gonna post this quick, then try to follow with some pictures from today's practice. Enjoy!

Lucky Charms

Hello from the Hotel Grand Victorian in Branson. I'm checking in with a short post before Coach Hemenway and I have to run over to the College of the Ozarks for our respective S.I.D and coaches' meetings in about a half-hour. I'll check back with more later, including pictures and thoughts from today's practice and more.

So it's no secret the Tigers enter the National Tournament with the nation's longest active winning streak at 16 game. To the casual fan, it may appear that the team's talent, balance, coaching and cohesiveness are the factors that have led to such a remarkable run. But that's where the Tiger Talk blog can take you behind the scenes to the REAL answers. There are two much bigger factors that have come in to play to make this winning streak happen.

Earlier this season, assistant coach Matt Culhane deicded to wear a a chain with a St. Christopher medal on it for the road game at Morningside, which the Tigers won. He donned it again for the big home win against UW-LaCrosse. However, Cully didn't have the chain for the team's December games, which included losses at Sioux Falls, at the St. Xavier Christmas Tournament, and at the Tigers' home classic against Cardinal Stritch.

After the calendar flipped to 2010, Cully made the lucky charm part of his every-game wardrobe, and the Tigers haven't lost since. If you're scoring at home, St. Chris is 18-0.

The other huge factor is assitant coach Andrew Duffy's hair. Early in the season, Duffy was bringing some serious class to the Corn Palace with a slicked-back Pat Riley-style hairdo. After a loss, Duffy re-evaluated his look, and its affect on the team, and he's been au natural ever since.

That loss that made him make the swtich? To Cardinal Stritch on Dec. 29. Since the slick disappeared, it's been 16-straight Tiger victories. As you can see above, Coach Riley is pumped the Tigers are winning, and he's happy to have his hairstyle all to himself again.

Feel free to ignore this and give all the credit to the players and their hard work if you want. I just know I'm not going to tell St. Christopher he hasn't played a part in the streak, and I'm definitely not giving Duff a tube of hair gel. Let's hope the team can continue to ride these ridiculously good omens Wednesday night and beyond.

Need more Dorsey?

Hello Tiger fans. I'm coming to you today from the passenger seat of a DWU chrysler sebring as myself and Assoc. A.D. Cory Aadland are on our way to Branson for the Men's Basketball National Tournament. Just to start rubbing it in, we're just south of Kansas City and it's 63 degrees here with no snow in sight. It is a little cloudy. Oh well, maybe we'll get even better weather tomorrow. It's not like our golf clubs are in the trunk or anything...

BIG NIGHT/MORNING FOR BASEBALL

A quick update on the DWU baseball team ... though the Twins don't want the Metrodome anymore, we'll take it. Last night/early this morning the Tigers swept Hamline University out of the Twin Cities by the scores of 6-3, 3-2. DWU came from behind to win both games, and Clayton Grimstad and Ryan Santiago both went yard in the doubleheader to put us at 6-2 overall and 4-0 in the Dome. Cadwell's great, but we should just start using the Dome as our home field til the snow melts (aka May). Although that may mean we'd have to play more games like last night's 10:45 p.m. doubleheader. I was confused all day. I thought it had to be 10:45 a.m. I received the stats from Hamline's SID at 3:30 a.m. I'm actually kind of surprised we haven't played at this time before, with how in-demand our Wellness Center is!

"OTHER" NATIONAL UPDATES

The men's basketball team isn't the only one at nationals this time of year. Our wrestlers had a tough run this weekend in Oklahoma City. All four ran into an opponent ranked No. 7 in the nation or better, and the close matches just didn't go our way. However, Malik Stewart finished off his career with an NAIA Scholar Athlete honor, and 2009 All-American Jordan Harer also wrapped up an outstanding, record-setting career. Congrats to Coach Matt Sedivy and his guys for a great season and thanks to the seniors for your great Tiger careers.

Also, Coaches Pat Belling and Casey "Tibbs" Collins had the Tiger track team at Indoor Nationals in Johnson City, Tenn., where there were some good performances. Natalie Wipf set a new school record in the 200-meter dash and all the Tigers represented the school well. Congrats, and good luck in the outdoor season.

DORSEY MEDIA BLITZ

With the national tournament about to begin, I know exactly what you're thinking. You want more of GPAC Player-of-the-Year Darrin Dorsey. Well, you ask and I deliver...

CLICK HERE to read Leah Rado's column about Dorsey from this weekend's Daily Republic. (Hurry and read it online today before my former employer charges you for it!)

CLICK HERE to find the lastest LA Sports Riot Podcast with Logan Anderson and his special guest...you guessed it...Darrin Dorsey. A great interview. (It's in the podcast player in the top right corner)

OTHER NATIONAL TOURNAMENT STUFF

Since I'm in the car, and have been working for about the last three hours, I'm just going to provide some links and log off for now, and I'll check in again soon from the south's version of the Wisconsin Dells (that's the only thing I can think each time I go to Branson, being a Wisconsin native - although you have to replace "waterslides" with "country music").

CLICK HERE for the National Tournament page I put together, and add this one to your favorites. I recommend checking out the PDF of the DWU National Tournament media guide for a good look at the season so far. This will be the place for any and all DWU National Tournament info.

CLICK HERE for a press release about DWU's special events surrounding the National Tournament, and make sure to come to our pregame get-together if you're in Branson.

CLICK HERE for our Twitter feed, which will be updated often during our stay in Branson.

CLICK HERE for the DWU Tiger Fan Blog...Jon Mueller does a great job with the fan's perspective of Tiger basketball and offers some great insight and lots of great links. I check it daily.

That's it for now. Probably my turn to drive again. See you in Branson, or I hope we can hear you cheering all the way from Mitchell.

Putting all the pieces together...

Another busy day in the athletics office with Branson nearing every day and two teams off at nationals today. I haven't gotten any updates from wrestling or track nationals, but check back for updates/results.

As far as Branson goes, we just planned a social for any fans heading down there to support the team. It will be at our hotel, the Grand Victorian, in the breakfast room Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The team will be there from 4:30 to 5 p.m. and there will be refreshments. If you're in Branson, make sure to swing by this event to wish the team luck before its game!

Today I worked on finishing up the media guide supplement for the national tournament and the "Track the Tigers" tournament Web page so there is one online location for all your DWU tournament needs. I'll link to both when they're online and ready to go.

However, I will give you a sneak preview of the media guide. Here's the outlook I wrote for the media guide supplement about the season so far. Enjoy...

A Season of Firsts
By MATT HIGGINS
Sports Information Director

The Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball team has been associated with the word “first” a lot throughout the 2009-10 season. As in: first place, first-ever Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, first automatic bid to the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball National Tournament, first team in school history to win 27 games overall and 16 games in conference play and first team in Tiger history to win 20 or more games for four-straight seasons.

However, there’s still a big “first” looming for head coach John Hemenway and his talented squad on March 10 – the first round of the National Tournament. This will be Hemenway and the Tigers’ fourth-straight trip to the National Tournament, but they’re still looking for that first win.

Dakota Wesleyan enters the tournament with high hopes after an unforgettable regular season. The Tigers knew they had plenty of talent heading into the 2009-10 campaign, but questions of chemistry and depth swirled around the team’s preseason expectations, even as they were picked to win the GPAC and ranked fourth in the nation in the Preseason Top 25. How would All-American Preston Broughton bounce back after missing last season with a knee injury? What kind of impact would newcomer Darrin Dorsey have? Could returning All-GPAC players Brady Wiebe, Mitch Bain and Chase Walder continue their progress? How will all the talented pieces fit together?

Four months later, those questions have been answered with a 27-5 overall record, a 16-2 GPAC mark, GPAC regular season and postseason tournament championships, a No. 7 national ranking and a boatload of individual honors. Prior to this season, the Tigers had knocked on the door of both GPAC championships, but this year they didn’t just open that door and go inside. Dakota Wesleyan kicked it down, took both titles and now head to the National Tournament looking for more.

However, the Tigers didn’t have the answers to all those questions right away. This year’s team was a work in progress over the first two months, then a juggernaut over the next two. Broughton got back to 100 percent after knee surgery kept him on the sidelines in 2008-09, but it took him a little while to get all the way back to form. Dorsey showed flashes of his immense potential from the start with a triple-double in his first game, but it also took some time for the playmaking guard and his teammates to learn how to maximize all of their talents. But once the calendar flipped to 2010, everything clicked into place as the team began an incredible run.

After a Dec. 29 loss to Cardinal Stritch University, the Tigers sat at 11-5 overall, however, the team bounced back to beat a good Jamestown College team the next night and they haven’t lost since. Now, 16-straight wins later, DWU enters the National Tournament with the nation’s longest winning streak and more momentum and confidence than the team could have ever imagined.

The perfect record in 2010 is the result of the talent and balance in the Tigers’ starting lineup. Since New Year’s, Dorsey has become a bona-fide star. The junior from Phoenix, Ariz., became the first player in GPAC history to win both Player-of-the-Year and Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors in the same season (he shared the latter with Hastings College’s Jeremiah Slough). He was joined on the All-GPAC First Team by Wiebe and Broughton, who have become one of the best frontcourt tandems in the country. Bain also averaged in double figures and was named to the All-GPAC Second Team, and Walder continued to hit big shots and play good defense to earn his second-straight All-GPAC Honorable Mention award.

However, even with two GPAC trophies and a school record for wins in hand, the Tigers still have unfinished business. This team isn’t happy just earning another trip to Point Lookout, Mo., for the National Tournament. There are still a couple more “firsts” the Tigers want to cross off their list.

Lots of Basketball News!

I don't have much time or energy for an update now, but at least wanted to get all the basic info on here...

Queen said it best. We Are the Champions. DWU prevailed in a predictably intense game over a tough USF team, and Mitchell appropriately celebrated. Another trophy. Another net cutting. Another great footnote on an unbelievable season.

That leads us to today's two big announcements: The All-GPAC awards and the National Tournament bracket. Darrin Dorsey cleaned up, as I hoped he would, with GPAC Player-of-the-Year, Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Year with Hastings' Jeremiah Slough, and a spot on the All-GPAC First Team. Brady Wiebe and Preston Broughton joined Dorsey on the First Team and finished second and sixth on the ballot, respectively. When three of the top six players from a 13-team league are on one team, that teams goes 19-2 against the rest of the league and wins regular season and tournament titles. Glad the GPAC coaches got this right.

To top it off, Mitch Bain is on the Second Team and last night's hero, Chase Walder, got an Honorable Mention nod. Congrats, fellas. All well-deserved awards.

The team also got seeded right where it was ranked - seventh - in the tournament bracket. The Tigers will open tournament play with the last game on Wednesday night against McPherson College from Kansas. Tip off is 9:45 on March 10. Obviously much more on this, and the entire bracket to come.

I will be spending my next several working hours finishing a supplement to our media guide for the national tournament, and I'll be hoping they all get used because we went deep in the bracket.

To close, kudos to everyone at the Palace last night and at our Selection Show event today. The atmosphere at both was incredible, and I'm sure it's something our players and coaches will remember for a long, long time. Cheers, Tiger fans.

For more on all this, and previews of this weekend's wrestling and track national meets, stay tuned to www.dwu.edu/athletics.

It's Championship Tuesday!

The day has arrived. DWU vs. USF. No. 1 vs. No. 2. No. 7 vs. No. 17. A bitter rivalry with a title on the line. Championship games don't get much better than this.


First of all, I'm glad these teams will get to face each other on this stage. It just wouldn't seem right if they just split the season series with each home team winning. This rivalry needs a rubber match, and the fact that it's for a title and hopefully in front of a huge audience seems to validate exactly how good these two teams - and their rivalry - are.


I'm also glad it came down to the Tigers and the Coo because I've seen every good team in the GPAC in person this year - with the exception of Hastings - and since December I've thought these are clearly the league's two most talented teams, with a group of Hastings, Briar Cliff and Dordt right behind. The 1-2 finish in the regular season proved that, and the fact that both teams held their seed and advanced to the tournament against some tough competition proved it again. Because of that, now everyone gets to enjoy an absolute top-notch championship game. I wouldn't have it any other way.


Time for some thoughts and analysis on the matchup. Even though DWU played USF close at their place and won a close one at home, I don't feel like the Tigers played very well in either game. The strange thing about this rivalry is that there is so much raw emotion that it might keep the teams from playing their best basketball. They play extremely hard and give it 110 percent and insert another sports cliche' here, but I would LOVE to see the Tigers come out and have a great game on offense from an execution standpoint. DWU was pretty much great in all phases of the game in Saturday's second half. It would be a lot of fun to see them play that way for a whole game against their archrival.


Does it scare anyone else that Thomas Frames is averaging 30 in the tournament? Matt Malloy commands so much attention, that it doesn't surprise me at all that Frames has been able to have some huge scoring games in the tournament, and he's always had a knack for hitting big shots. Somehow, DWU will have to find a way to slow Malloy down and keep him out of the lane while still keeping Frames in check. Not an easy task, and though the Tigers just shut down Briar Cliff's high-scoring backcourt for the second time, Sioux Falls' guards present different problems.


Having said that, I'd guess the Coo are just as worried about stopping Preston Broughton and Brady Wiebe. Broughton has been incredible in the tournament, with 19.5 ppg and a ridiculous .850 shooting percentage from the floor. Thursday, his only two misses were a tip-in and an attempt at a reverse/360 dunk where the pass kind of took him out of position and he still tried to throw it down. The only shot he missed Saturday was a 3-pointer. Other than those three attepts, he's been perfect, and a lot of the shots he's made have had a pretty high degree of difficulty.


Wiebe is playing some great basketball lately inside as well. He had a little bit of a scoring lull at the end of the regular season, but he's had three-straight double-doubles and has been a terror in the paint and on the boards.


Part of their effectiveness has also been how well DWU's two All-American bigs share the ball with each other. I don't know if I've ever seen a team with the kind of interior passing Broughton and Wiebe give the Tigers. It makes both players much more dangerous, and must be frustrating for other teams.


I would expect DWU to try to use the same blueprint for beating USF as last time out. The Coo got a heavy dose of Broughton and Wiebe throughout the course of the game, which opened things up for Darrin Dorsey and Mitch Bain down the stretch. As always, it's gotta be inside-out for the Tigers tonight.


However, DWU is going to need to make some outside shots...and it would help if they're early in the game to loosen up the Cougar defense a little. Chase Waler, Jake Kneeland, Bo LaCroix, Mark Mingo, along with Dorsey and Bain ... if those guys can just hit two or three from deep it makes everything easier for DWU. If the Tigers get outside shots and solid perimeter defense - probably the two biggest variables - I love their chances. It also doesn't hurt that they've won 15 in a row and have really learned how to win in almost any situation.


I'm also hoping the championship feels more like a home game this year. Unfortunately, last year the DWU students were on spring break, which took away a lot of the home court advantage. This year, USF can bus students over if it wants, but this year the Tigers should still have them outnumbered.


Now that you've got my thoughts on the game, there is only one more big question ... how do I make the next eight hours go by fast until tipoff?


Here are some links to other previews of the game and DWU basketball links to get you ready for tonight:


DWU's Official Preview (This is worth it just for the photos from the last DWU-USF Game)
The Mitchell Daily Republic's Preview
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader Preview
DWU Tiger Fan Blog



Tonight's game can be seen and heard in a few different ways. The Mitchell Daily Republic will offer a live video Web cast, and the game will be on local radio and streamed online by either 105.9 FM KMIT or KOOL 98. (I'd guess KOOL 98).


'SELECTION WEDNESDAY' SPECIAL


For any interested Tiger fans, we'll be hosting a Selection Show party for the men's basketball team tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in Room 101 (aka The Matt Higgins Press Room) in the Christen Family Recreation/Wellness Center on campus.


The College Fanz Sports Network will be doing a live selection show on their Web site at 3 p.m. to announce the NAIA DII National Tournament bracket. It should be kind of a cool event. We'll be announcing DWU's All-GPAC selections and hopefully hearing from Coach Hemenway and a player or two. The cheerleaders will be on hand and we'll have refreshments, but most importantly, we'll find out who and when we'll play in the National Tournament. This should be a pretty cool thing for any Tiger basketball fans, so definitely come out if you're free.

Time for me to post this blog and move on to some of the little behind-the-scenes things that need to get done for tonight's game. See you at the Palace at 7 p.m. Wear Blue and White, and blow the roof off that place.

Monday Morning Links

I'm hoping to check in with some details from baseball/softball's results from the weekend later today, as well as a look ahead to tomorrow's GPAC title game, but if you need some Tiger sports dialogue to cure that case of the Mondays here are some Monday Morning links for Tiger fans who want to read/interact about DWU basketball as much as humanly possible.

DWU TIGER FAN BLOG - A great look at Tiger basketball from a fan's perspective.

COLLEGE FANZ NAIA DII MEN'S BASKETBALL MESSAGE BOARD - Discussion board about all things NAIA DII Men's Basketball. This "Bracketology" post is one of the best on the board this time of year and a great look ahead to the National Tournament.

COLLEGE FANZ GPAC MEN'S BASKETBALL MESSAGE BOARD - Same as above, only specific to the GPAC. Fun place to see different fans' opinions from other schools and some good insight/analysis.

LA SPORTS RIOT BLOG/PODCAST - Great GPAC-related blog and podcast. Current posts are about the GPAC Men's/Women's Player-of-the-Year race and some great podcasts with GPAC Commish Corey Westra about the conference tournaments.

And, as always, stay tuned to the DWU ATHLETIC WEB SITE for all Tiger sports news, or follow us on TWITTER.

Good day to be a Tiger

So far it's four games and four wins for Dakota Wesleyan's sports teams today. The biggest one was the seventh-ranked Tiger men beating Briar Cliff 73-55 in the GPAC Tournament semifinals. DWU will host the rival University of Sioux Falls in the championship game Tuesday at the Corn Palace after the Coo came back to force overtime, and beat Hastings 113-108 in OT.

However, Dakota Wesleyan's had a great day on the diamond as well. The Tiger baseball team avenged yesterday's loss with an 8-2 win over Bacone University to improve to 3-1. Steve Gust's team is on the field right now playing another game against York College. DWU also plays York tomorrow at 12:30.

And congrats to Marie McCarthy and the Tiger softball squad. The young team opened the season with two wins today, beating Sterling college 4-3 and 7-2 in Wichita, Kan. DWU will try to make it 4-0 tomorrow against Friends University.

However, since I wasn't at either of the baseball or softball games, I'll predictably keep today's thoughts to the Tigers' win over The Cliff today on the hardwood. It's hard to find words to describe the first half, but the ones that keep coming up are "weird" and "strange." There wasn't a lot of flow either way, but DWU clearly played better in the final 6 minutes of the half, and Preston Broughton's late 3-point play and Darrin Dorsey's long three just before the buzzer seemed to give the Tigers some great momentum and it got the crowd going.

That momentum appeared to be short lived, as Briar Cliff scored four quick points to tie the score, and then the team's traded baskets, but then DWU played possibly its best 12 minutes of the season as it took over with a 16-0 run, and the rest was history.

People I talked to had a range of opinions on how we'd fare against a Briar Cliff team that was fighting for its only shot into the NAIA DII tournament. Some thought we'd be in real trouble. However, I was in Sioux City for the teams' first meeting and the Chargers just don't match up well with us really at any spot. Their stars - Kyle Semprini, Chase Vander Feen and Matt Geelan - all average more than 11 points per game, but today they combined for just 24 (7, 1o and 7, respectivey). Perhaps the best move by the Tiger coaches was putting Dorsey on Geelan, who is kind of a point-forward, and letting Mitch Bain and Chase Walder/Jake Kneeland stay in the face of Semprini and Vander Feen, who are basically just shooters. DWU's defense, which can be up and down, looked downright dominant in both matchups with the Cliff, and a lot of that has to do with matchup advantages at almost every spot.

How efficient has Preston Broughton been in the playoffs? 19.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg on 17-for-20 shooting (.850). One other underrated aspect of DWU's home games is how loud the crowd gets when one of the supporting cast makes a big basket. Two of the loudest ovations Saturday came after huge 3-pointers from Kneeland and Bo LaCroix.

So Sioux Falls comes to town Tuesday. I'll save my analysis for this game for another blog either tomorrow or Monday...but start planning to get to the Corn Palace early. Fill that place up to the rafters and enjoy one of the great rivalries in small-college basketball. The first two games were outstanding, and with the GPAC title on the line, expect the rubber match to be another instant classic.

As always, keep up with DWU athletics on our Web site: www.dwu.edu/athletics/ and on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dwusports. If you're reading the blog, please leave a comment or a question. I'd love to do a "mailbag" type entry if I get a few inquiries from Tiger fans! I'd also love to get suggestions of what you'd like to see in the blog...more of the same? More coverage of a certain sport? Ask and you shall receive (within reason).

Resurrected...

I swear I went into this school year with the intentions of blogging more, but somehow my second year as the SID at Dakota Wesleyan has managed to be even busier then my first, and in the little free time I've had since Labor Day I spent it doing things other than blogging. However, as our winter sports gear up for their respective NAIA National Championships, it's time to get Tiger Talk back up and running.

(To prove that I'm really stretching for spare time to blog, I'm writing this from press row at the Palace during the fourth quarter of the Hanson-Kimball girls basketball district game, which precedes our men's playoff game tonight).

THE BEST....AROUND?

A great 80s song from The Karate Kid and a good subhead? You bet.

But I'm not talking about Daniel-San...he proved he was the best with the crane kick. Instead, I'm talking about DWU's Darrin Dorsey. Heading into the season, people thought the newcomer was probably the third or fourth best player on this team, but after the season he's had - especially the last six weeks - the conversations shifts to ponder if Dorsey is the best player in the GPAC...and possibly the nation.

I got a great e-mail about Dorsey's stats from DWU assistant Matt Culhane today. Matt had done some digging and found out that Dorsey is the only player in the entire NAIA Division II who is averging 18 points, five rebounds and five assists per game (and that doesn't even factor in his 2.9 steals per game). I recently read an artcile about NCAA D1 basketball that wondered if Evan Turner from Ohio State could average an unthinkable 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists...which he has the chance to do. That article got me thinking about the all-around impact from Dorsey, so it must have been fate that Coach Culhane was thinking the same thing and dug up those numbers. The only comparable player, statistically, is Oregon Tech's Justin Parnell with 17.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists, also great, great numbers. According to our old friend coach Adam Tyhurst, who is coaching out in Oregon now, Parnell is easily their conference MVP and possibly a top-3 candidate for NAIA DII Player of the Year. Players that wowed us at last year's national tournament are also top candidates like Oklahoma Wesleyan's Steve Briggs and Evergreen's Nate Menefee (the player I was most impressed with last year), but I firmly believe that Dorsey is the GPAC Player-of-the-Year, and definitely a candidate for NAIA DII Player-of-the-Year. Maybe not the winner, but an extremely deserving candidate.

Beyond the stats, if anyone thinks there's someone other than Dorsey (or potentially Brady Wiebe or Preston Broughton) who is the best player in the GPAC, there are certainly some numbers they could lean on. But my argument would be: watch him. Jeremiah Slough from Hastings is a great player and actually has similar stats to Dorsey. Matt Malloy from USF is clearly one of the best guards and scorers in the league. But Dorsey does things night-in and night-out that players at this level just typically don't do. Against Northwestern, they KNEW Dorsey was the main option, and their defense never came remotely close to slowing him down, as he finished with 34 points and led the Tigers back for an 88-86 win. It was just the latest example of how rare a player Dorsey is at this level. Dakota Wesleyan is lucky to have him (and several of our other players) so enjoy watching him every chance you can.

This girls game is winding down, so I better get ready for our men to take the court. As always, stay tuned to www.dwu.edu/athletics/ for all the DWU athletics news you can handle, and please start following us on Twitter for the absoultey quickest way to get DWU athletics news, scores, announcements and schedule changes. The URL is: www.twitter.com/DWUsports

It's great to be back, and go Tigers! Here's hoping we'll host two more home games after tonight...