BELLEVUE, NEB. - The Blue Hawks were held to just 18% (4-22) three-point shooting on the game as Dickinson State (0-1, 0-0 NSAA) fell to Iowa Wesleyan University (1-0, 0-0 CAC), 76-62 on Friday.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle as neither team could find a rhythm offensively. The teams combined to go 3-17 from behind the arc in the half. Christian Murphy shot 4-5 in the first half for eight points to lead the Blue Hawks. Iowa Wesleyan took their largest lead of the half at 24-16 on a Joey Brown IV jumper, but the Blue Hawks responded with a 13-7 run to end the half down only two, 31-29.

In the second half, the Tigers were able to find their rhythm as they shot 58.1% (18-31) to run away from the Blue Hawks. A Tyce Dahlberg triple got Dickinson State to within one, 33-32, with 18:12 left in the half, but the Tigers responded with a 12-4 run and never looked back. The deficit ballooned to 25, 68-43, with 6:14 left in the half. Dahlberg answered with a quick seven points, Gus Wright had a dunk, and Kose Egbule hit a three to bring the Blue Hawks to within 15 at 70-55, but they would get no closer as shots continued to draw iron down the stretch and Iowa Wesleyan closed out a 76-62 win.

The Tigers outshot the Blue Hawks .500 (28-56) to .410 (25-61) on the game, and won the rebounding battle definitively, 43-28. Both teams struggled to take care of the ball as IWU had 23 turnovers to DSU's 20. One aspect that Dickinson State did control was blocks as they had six to only two for Iowa Wesleyan.

WHATS NEXT

The Blue Hawks will return to action against another Continental Athletic Conference opponent when they take on Bacone College tomorrow, October 29, at 2 pm MT to close out the Chick-fil-A Classic in Bellevue, Neb.