Dakota Wesleyan Ekes Out 82-77 Win Over Broncos

(Hastings, NE) – The Dakota Wesleyan Tigers held on for a 82-77 win over the Hastings Broncos men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

Dakota Wesleyan drilled a three on their opening possession, then sophomore David Hageman scored a layup on the other end. A quick 5-0 run by the Tigers prompted a Hastings timeout. Sophomore Hunter Hill scored inside out of the timeout, then scored again off of a Hageman assist after a Dakota Wesleyan bucket. Hagemen would later score to cut the lead to 10-8 four-and-a-half minutes in.

A quick 7-2 run led to another Hastings timeout with the score at 17-10. Sophomore Ben Boudreau found the range from the outside to cut the lead to four, but the Tigers hit three unanswered triples to force a third Bronco timeout less than ten minutes into the game, as they led 26-13.

Shortly after the timeout, junior Christian Pujals sparked the offense with a three and a layup, then Boudreau split a pair of free throws to get the Broncos within seven with seven minutes left in the half. Junior Myles Simon completed an old-fashioned three-point play, then a steal and transition slam from junior DaRon Hall brought the crowd to their feet, as they cut the deficit to two with 6:36 to go.

A three from Pujals gave Hastings a brief lead that Dakota Wesleyan immediately answered with a 5-0 run. Hall scored and Boudreau got points at the free throw line later in the half, but the Tigers went into halftime with a 38-31 lead.

Hastings opened the second half with a miss but Hill cleaned up the miss and scored to trim the lead to five. With the score at 40-35, the Tigers drilled consecutive threes to make it an 11-point game. They later grew the lead to 15, but Boudreau came up big with a three and a traditional three-point play to cut it to 60-49 with 10 minutes left.

Trailing 72-57 with 3:33 remaining, freshman Maverick Binder knocked down a three. After a couple of Tiger free throws, Hall scored in the paint. Dakota Wesleyan continued their success at the free throw line with two more at the other end. Binder drilled another three to cut the lead to nine with 2:12 to go.

The Tigers broke the pressure and scored at the other end, then Boudreau attacked the basket, scoring and drawing a foul. He put in the free throw and after a Tiger miss, Hall drained a three to make 78-73 with 1:09 left. Dakota Wesleyan scored a layup their next time down, then after a missed layup from Boudreau, the Tigers were called for a loose ball foul, resulting in two free throws from Pujals to get back within five with 28 seconds left.

Hastings could never get closer to five in the final seconds as the Tigers held on for the 82-77 win. The Broncos outrebounded Dakota Wesleyan 34-32, but the Tigers shot 55 percent from the field and 39 percent from three.

Binder and Boudreau both scored 16 points in the loss, with Boudreau also adding eight rebounds. Hall finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, while Pujals had 12 points off the bench. Hagemen contributed nine points, three rebounds, and three assists. Hill had eight points and three rebounds, including two offensive.

Up next, Hastings will travel to Seward, NE to play Concordia on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7:45pm.