October 30, 2024

NEW ULM, Minn. – Dakota State (S.D.) was unable to hold on to their eight-point halftime lead Wednesday evening, falling short 67-63 in their first road men's basketball contest over NCAA Division III Martin Luther (Minn.) at Luther Student Center.  The Knights outscored the Trojans 39-27 in the final twenty minutes of the game to secure an exhibition contest win.

Dakota State fell to 2-1 overall record.  Martin Luther, a member of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), was playing an exhibition game.

DSU returns home for a two-game series with Providence (Manitoba) this weekend.  They play their first game on Friday evening at 7 p.m., followed by their second game on Saturday at 3 p.m.  Both games will be held at DSU Fieldhouse.

Saturday's game will be Ken Prorok & Law Enforcement Appreciation Game.

Martin Luther (Minn.) 67, Dakota State (S.D.) 63 – FINAL

Colby Dillenbeck sparked Dakota State's 7-0 scoring run with a layup with eighteen minutes and forty-five seconds on the clock.  Taine Mithcell and Isaac Sumption also scored during the DSU's opening run.

Martin Luther snapped their scoring drought with a 3-pointer from Trey Lauber with 17 minutes left in the first half.  The Trojans ballooned their lead to 12-3 after a layup by Aiden Jensen, forcing the Knights to burn their first timeout at 15:40 on the clock.

The Trojans earned their first double digit of the game at 20-9 after Dillenbeck's layup with 11:35 to go before halftime. 

MLC answered with a 12-4 scoring run to trim DSU's lead to 24-21 after a 3-pointer from Adam Loberger with 6:14 to go in the first half.

Ethan Slaathaug stole the ball and hit a fastbreak layup as Dakota State regained their double-digit lead at 36-25 with less than 20 seconds to go in the first.

Loberger drained a 3-pointer to close the first half as Martin Luther trailed 36-28. 

Dakota State shot 16-of-35 from the field (45.7 percent) in the first twenty minutes of the game.  Martin Luther was held to 39.3 percent from the field (11-of-28 field goals).

The Trojans maintained their lead between four- and nine-points for the first ten-plus minutes of the second half.  Brayden Pankonen drained a 3-pointer to give Dakota State their largest lead of the game at 57-45 with 9:21 remaining.

Martin Luther answered with a quick 5-0 scoring run, capped by a 3-pointer from Loberger to cut their deficit to 57-50 with 8:48 to go in the game.

Both teams were unable to score within the next three minutes before the Knights extended their scoring run to 9-0.  Trey Lauber hit a jump shot as MLC reduced their deficit to 57-54 with 4:38 left.

Pankonen hit a layup on the ensuing possession to snap the Trojans' scoring drought, leading 59-54 with 4:19 remaining.

Loberger hit a 3-pointer to knot the game at 63-63 with 1:33 left for Martin Luther.  The Knights secured the game by hitting four free throws from Loberger in the final 35 seconds of the game to secure the victory.

Martin Luther outscored Dakota State 18-6 in the final 9:10 of the game.

MLC shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half (13-of-24 field goals) and held DSU to 36.4 percent (12-of-33 field goals).

Dillenbeck paced the Trojans with a season-high 16 points on his 8-of-12 field goals.  He pulled down four rebounds and stole the ball twice.   Jensen scored 10 points off the bench (5-of-8 field goals) and grabbed five rebounds.  Pankonen tallied nine points and stole the ball a season-high four times.  Mitchell and Sumption each scored seven points.

Mitchell had season-high seven rebounds for Dakota State.  He also dished out five assists.  Slaathaug had six points and three rebounds.  Tyler Beckwith registered three steals. 

Ethan Kjenstad led the Knights with 21 points on his 9-of-14 field goals and 2-of-3 free-throws.  He had four rebounds.  Loberger added 20 points, five rebounds, and two steals.  Benjamin Pearson had 10 points and five assists.  Benjamin Vasold recorded seven points and seven rebounds. 

Martin Luther shot 46.2 percent overall from the field (24-of-52 field goals) compared to Dakota State 41.2 percent (28-of-62 field goals).  MLC hit 12-of-13 free-throws, while DSU struggled at the free-throw line by going 5-for-12.

The Knights outrebounded the Trojans 32-27.

DSU outscored MLC 24-9 in bench points and 52-12 inside the paint.  The Trojans outscored the Knights 11-4 in fast break points and 20-12 in points off turnovers.