GPAC CHAMPS!

Wow, where to start. Well, obviously the Tigers are GPAC Champions. Hastings lost to Dana last night and DWU's win put the 2 games ahead of the next contender with only 1 game left. However, it was not easy. The Tigers were not as good or as focused on defense last night as they showed they can be. Not a good night to do that vs a team who can put up over 50 points in a half, which Northwestern almost did last night, scoring 46 in the first half. The Tigers regrouped a little at halftime and stepped up the defensive effort, at least a little bit. Darrin Dorsey had a great game with 34 points and 6 assists. The Tigers did do a good job again on Walker Seim limiting him to 7 points with 3 of those being on a ridiculous 3 pointer in which Jake Kneeland may not have been able to guard any better, unless he blocked the shot. Northwestern's student section was a little rowdy, giving Brady Wiebe and Preston Broughton special attention by yelling and harassing them. They also started chanting "Nice head, nice head" at one point which I'm guessing was aimed towards Chase Walder. How fitting that the model team for the GPAC for so many years during the late 90s and early and mid 00's is where Dakota Wesleyan won their first every GPAC title. After losing 16 (yes, sixteen) in a row to Northwestern, DWU has now beat them 4 times in a row. Hopefully their is some symbolism like "passing the torch" and DWU can be the model team for the GPAC now for a while and that this GPAC championship is just one of many. Congratulations to Coach Hemenway on a great milestone.

But this does not just belong to the coaches and players on the team. Obviously the fans are great as well, but some unsung heroes are the guys who got the program to the level that it is at. This conference championship belongs to guys like Brock Seim, Kevin Talley, Andrew Lasche, Marcus Vontz, Scott Nelson, Colby Fitzgerald, and Ike Muoneke.

Bigger things ahead though. Even though the game on Saturday lost some of its luster it still has huge ramifications, which we will talk about later. But as for now, it's a great day to be a Tiger.

DWU's article on GPAC Championship

Article in Daily Republic

GPAC sports write up