DSU basketball teams return to States with one win each

WINNIPEG - The Dickinson men’s and women’s basketball teams finished its weekend in Canada with wins. After falling to the University of Regina (Saskatchewan) 83-79 Saturday and to Brandon University (Saskatchewan) 67-54 Sunday, the men’s team beat Lakeland College (Alberta) 69-63 for the seventh place spot in the Wesmen Classic at the University of Winnipeg (Manitoba) Monday afternoon. The women’s team traveled to Brandon University and won 69-58.
In the men’s game, four Blue Hawks finished with double-digit points, starting with senior guard Ty Ackelson with 15, followed by junior guard Tevin Russell with 14, senior guard Brock Boos with 13 and junior post Mackenson Odenier supplied 10.
In the first quarter, DeSean Atkins started the scoring off by making both his free throw shots, but Lakeland took took hold of the game and scored nine unanswered points and went into the half up 37-25. Lakeland’s Emmanuel Jones finished with a game-high 30 points, including three 3-pointers and made eight of nine shots from the charity stripe.
Down by 10 in the fourth quarter, the Blue Hawks went on a 16-point run to take a 63-57 lead and outscored the Rustlers 8-6 in the last three and a half minutes to clinch the win.
For the women, the Blue Hawks played a strong game from beginning to end. Senior guard Mariah Duran led the team with 24 points, followed by sophomore guard TaRicka Linzy with 14 and senior forward Jess Bygate right behind her with 12.
The women also spent the weekend at University of Winnipeg and were swept by the Wesmen. The Blue Hawks lost 61-53 Saturday morning and fell 94-80 on Sunday.
DSU men’s and women’s teams return home Thursday for Frontier Conference action and host the University of Great Falls. The women will play at 5:30 p.m. and the men are scheduled to take at court at 7:30 p.m.