Jan. 28, 2006

Dana’s Mark Esser(Woodbine, Iowa) scored his 1000th point at home Saturday during Dana’s game against rival Midland Lutheran. Despite the Vikings’ strong offense, Dana was unable to hold back Midland Lutheran. The Warriors defeated the Vikings 88-80.

Dana trailed Midland closely through the first half. At halftime the Warriors had a five-point lead, 46-41, over the Vikings.

But the Vikings were not about to let another close game slip away. Five minutes into the second half, Dana tied the game up at 53. The Vikings maintained their lead for eight minutes. Then the Warriors took back the lead with a 3-pointer at 7:26 on the clock. The score was tied five times in the final six minutes of the game.

With just over a minute remaining and the score tied at 80, Midland drove in a layup for a two-point lead. The Warriors made 6-6 free throws to up their score to 88 while the Vikings missed all five of their final field goal attempts.

The disheartening loss sends Dana to 5-7 in the GPAC and into a three-way tie for sixth place.

Esser finished the game with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Esser, in his fourth year as a Viking, recently reached 500 career rebounds and also holds school records for blocked shots.