Feb. 18, 2006

The Dana College men’s basketball needed a win at Hastings College Saturday to host the first round of the GPAC tournament. Hastings avenged their loss to Dana earlier this season. The Broncos hung on to defeat Dana 93-85.

Hastings was hot in the opening half. The Broncos shot over 60 percent from the field and forced 12 Viking turnovers. Hastings never trailed in the opening half, but Dana did not let them pull very far ahead. Jason Isaacson (SR, Council Bluffs, IA) kept Dana close in the opening period by scoring 12 points. The Broncos took away the Vikings inside presence by limiting Mark Esser (SR, Woodbine, IA) to only four first half points. Dana trailed at half 47-36.

Hastings stretch their lead to as many as 19 points in the second half. But Dana would not quit. Mark Esser’s lay-up in the last minute cut Hastings’ lead to eight points. Teddy Cox (JR, Hawley, MN) drained a critical three-pointer in the last six seconds to pull Dana within six. Unfortunately, the final buzzer sounded with the visitors trailing by eight.

Isaacson led Dana with 28 points, five rebounds and two assists. Rob Cox (SR, Hawley, MN) added 18 points by scoring seven of ten shots from the field. Esser was also in double digits with 12 points. Esser pulled down a team high nine rebounds and blocked two shots.

The loss drops Dana to 13-16 overall and 7-10 in conference play.

The Vikings will travel to the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota on Tuesday afternoon. Dana will take on Dakota Wesleyan at 5:00pm in the first round of the GPAC post-season tournament. The winner will then travel to Sioux Falls on Thursday to take on the regular season champions.