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Dordt College Men's Basketball vs. Dakota Wesleyan

December 3, 2008

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(Sioux Center, Iowa) The Dordt College Defender men's basketball earned a hard-fought come from behind victory over Dakota Wesleyan in men's college basketball on Wednesday, December 3 at the De Witt Gym in Sioux Center, Iowa. The Defenders had to overcome a six point halftime deficit and an 11-0 run by the Tigers late in the game to secure the 82-73 win.

Dordt started slowly and found themselves down 27-20 with 6:23 left in the first half after Scott Nelson drilled a three-pointer for the visitors. Dordt responded with an 8-0 run on a basket by Brandon Oldenkamp, a three pointer by Dustin Katje and a three-point shot by Justin Van Kooten. Wesleyan then closed the half on a 9-3 run for a six point advantage. Wesleyan shot over fifty percent from the floor in the first half.

The lead never got bigger than six in the second half and Dordt evened the score at 44-44 on a Michael Eekhoff foray into the lane at the 15:20 mark. Dordt took the lead for good at the 14:57 mark on a Brandon Oldenkamp three-pointer. Dordt eventually built the lead to 70-58 when Brett Heidema made a shot in the paint at the 5:38 mark. Wesleyan turned up the defensive pressure in the next minutes and went on a 11-0 run to close within 70-69 at which point they called timeout. Out of the timeout the Tigers went back to a more conservative defense and Dordt banged in a three-pointer by Mark Rowenhorst at the 2:16 mark and a three point rain maker by Brandon Oldenkamp pushed the lead to 76-69 with 1:44 left in the game. Dordt concluded the 10-0 run with an Oldenkamp free throw at the :37 mark. Dordt secured the 82-73 final.

Dordt was 30-65 from the floor and 8-21 on three-pointers while Wesleyan was 26-53 from the floor and 2-16 on three-pointers. Dordt forced Wesleyan into 19 turnovers while committing 10 of their own. Wesleyan held a slight 35-33 rebounding edge.

Oldenkamp led Dordt with 19 points including four thee-pointers. Michael Eekhoff had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists with two steals while Mark Rowenhorst had 14 points, four assists and two steals. Carlie Landegent came off the bench to score eight and snag nine rebounds to share game honors with Brady Wiebe and Ike Muoneke from Wesleyan.

"We weren't limiting them on offense in the first half and they were making more than fifty percent of their shots," said Dordt coach Greg Van Soelen. "Despite that we were still down just six points. I thought we rebounded and defended very well in the second half. We got tired after getting up 12 but Mark Rowenhorst and Brandon Oldenkamp hit a couple big threes in front of our bench. Mark carried us for a while in the second half on defense and hit some big shots."

The Tigers were led by Wiebe and Scott Nelson with 17 points each while Colby Fitgerald had 16 points.

Dordt is 7-2 overall and 2-0 in the GPAC while Wesleyan falls to 8-3 and 1-1. Dordt will host Dana this Saturday, December 6 with the men's game scheduled to start at 4:00 pm. The Defenders will then go to Sioux Falls to battle the Cougars on December 10 with the men scheduled to tip-off at 8:00 pm.

Dordt's Current Record: 7-2 (2-0)
Opponent's Current Record: 8-3 (1-1)

Team 1st Half 2nd Half Final
Dordt College 31 51 82
Dakota Wesleyan 37 36 73
Dordt Rebounding Leaders Total
Carlie Landegent 9
Michael Eekhoff 7
Logan Kingma 5
Brandon Oldenkamp 5
Team Total: 33
Opponent Rebounding Leaders Total
Wiebe, Brady 9
Muoneke, Ike 9
Nelson, Scott 4
Team Total: 35
Dordt Scoring Leaders Total
Brandon Oldenkamp 19
Michael Eekhoff 17
Mark Rowenhorst 14
Carlie Landegent 8
Team Total: 82
Opponent Scoring Leaders Total
Wiebe, Brady 17
Nelson, Scott 17
Fitzgerald, Colby 16
Walder, Chase 8
Team Total: 73
Dordt Team Shooting Pct
Field Goals: 30/65 46%
3-Point Field Goals: 8/21 38%
Free Throws: 14/20 70%
Opponent Team Shooting Pct
Field Goals: 26/53 49%
3-Point Field Goals: 2/16 12%
Free Throws: 19/26 73%

For more information, please contact Mike Byker, Sports Information Director, at mbyker@dordt.edu or (712) 722-6301.