December 17, 2022

MADISON, S.D. – Despite trailing 16 points at halftime Saturday evening at DSU Fieldhouse, Dakota State (S.D.) mounted a furious second-half comeback to regain their lead against Midland (Neb.) in the men's basketball non-conference game.  The Warriors held off the Trojans by the score of 69-67, earning a season series split (both meetings at DSU Fieldhouse this season, with DSU winning the first meeting 63-61 on Oct. 29).

Dakota State fell to 5-7 overall record.  Midland, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), improved to 5-9 overall record.

The Trojans conclude their three-game home stand Tuesday evening at DSU Fieldhouse, hosting another GPAC foe.  DSU takes on NAIA"s nationally ranked No. 23 Morningside (Iowa) with a 7 p.m. tip-off.

Midland (Neb.) 69, Dakota State (S.D.) 67 – FINAL

• Dakota State grabbed the first lead of the game at 2-0 after a lay-up from Sam Muller (assisted by Kevin Jones, Jr.) with nineteen minutes and six seconds on the clock.
• Midland answered with a 7-0 scoring run to earn a 7-2 lead, capped by Ryan Larsen's 3-pointer with 16:14 to go in the first half.
• Jace Kelley drained a 3-pointer, assisted by Ethan Damerum, as DSU knotted the game for the second time at 13-13 with 11:51 left before intermission.
• The Warriors went on a 12-0 scoring surge to open a 25-13 lead after a pair of free-throws from Michael Harding with 8:02 remaining in the first half.
• DSU snapped its scoring drought with 7:35 left after a lay-up by Kelle (assisted by Brett Limke), trimming MU's lead to 25-15.
• Jake Orr nailed down a pair of free-throws to give Midland its biggest lead of the game at 37-21 with 2:09 left before halftime.
• The Warriors led 39-23 by halftime, thanks to their 51.6 percent field goal shooting (16-of-31 field goals) in the first twenty minutes.  DSU was held to 11-of-28 field goals (39.3 percent).
• Trailing 41-27, Dakota State went on an 8-1 outburst to reduce their deficit into single digit.  Ronnie Latting hit a free-throw as the Trojans trailed 43-35 with 15:52 left.
• With the Warriors leading 49-41, DSU went on a quick 5-0 scoring run to trim their deficit to 49-46 after a 3-pointer by Muller (assisted by Damerum) with 11:29 remaining.
• Dakota State used an 8-2 run to regain their lead after trailing 51-46.  Latting made a layup inside the paint (assisted by Jones, Jr) as the Trojans earned a 54-53 with 7:31 to go.
• Midland answered with a 9-0 outburst to earn a 62-54 lead after a pair of free throws by Dominic Humm with 4:35 left.
• Down 64-56, the Trojans went on another quick 5-0 run to cut MU's lead to 64-61 highlighted by a 3-pointer from Deshawn Kelly (assisted by Chris Morales) with 3:02 remaining.
• Jake Rueschhoff hit a layup to put the Warriors up 69-63 with 1:38 left.
• Kelly made a layup inside the paint as the Trojans trailed 69-65 with 1:19 to go in the game.
• After Midland failed to score on the ensuing possession, Kelly make a layup (assisted by Morales) as Dakota State trailed 69-67 with 40.7 seconds left.
• The Warriors missed a basket on the next possession as Morales rebounded the ball and passed the ball to Kelly for DSU's possession.  Kelly missed the layup and was rebounded by Jake Orr for Warriors' possession.
• A foul committed by the Trojans with 2.2 seconds sent MU's Orr to the free-throw line for double bonus.  After a pair of free throw misses, Muller rebounded the ball and called a timeout with 1.8 seconds to go for DSU.
• After bringing up the ball to half court, Dakota State called their final timeout of the game with .6 seconds to go.  Muller missed a potential game-winning 3-point shot from the wing as the Trojans fell short, securing the victory for Midland.
• The Trojans outscored the Warriors 44-30 in the second half.  DSU shot 47.4 percent from the field (18-of-38 field goals) and struggled at the free-throw line by going 5-of-13 in the final twenty minutes.
• Midland was held to 37.5 percent from the field in the second half (9-of-24 field goals) and made 12-of-17 free-throws.
• Kelly paced the Trojans with 18 points off the bench by going 7-of-14 from the field.  He also pulled down eight rebounds.  Latting and Muller (season-high) each added 17 points.  Kelley tallied five points.  Muller stole the ball twice.
• Morales contributed five assists and collected a career-high six rebounds for DSU.  Damerum grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and registered three assists.  He also had three blocked shots.  Jones dished out four assists.
• Orr posted a double-double of 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Midland.  He was 6-of-9 from both the field and free-throw line.  Rueschhoff added 13 points and two steals.
• Larsen and Emanuel Bryson each added eight points for the Warriors.  Dominic Humm added six points, six rebounds, and three steals off the bench.  Mason Strong and Michael Harding each dished out three assists.
• Midland shot 45.5 percent overall from the field (25-of-55 field goals) compared to Dakota State 43.9 percent (29-of-66 field goals).  MU was 2-of-10 3-pointers, while DSU hit 4-of-27 3-pointers.
• The Warriors hit 17-of-23 from the free-throw line (73.9 percent).  The Trojans went 5-of-14 free-throws (35.7 percent).
• DSU outrebounded MU 40-36. 
• Dakota State outscored Midland 12-4 in transition points, 22-14 in points off turnovers, 48-40 inside the paint, 7-4 in second chance points, and 27-26 in bench points.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director