DSU Trojan's End in NAIA's Elite Eight

Posted on Saturday, March 9, 2013

The Dakota State University (DSU) men's basketball team fell to the Grace (Ind.) on Saturday evening in the 22nd Annual NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament 'Elite Eight.' A strong second half from the Lancers led them to their 72-59 win over the Trojans on the campus of College of the Ozarks.

The beginning of the game went back-and-forth, with each team taking turns holding the lead. Grace then outscored DSU 11-3 and held DSU without a field goal for nearly nine minutes to open up a 31-22 advantage; but the Trojans came back to cut it to one by the break, 35-34.

In the second half, the Trojans had the lead once before Grace went on a 9-0 run and took a double-digit lead outscoring DSU 37-25 in the second-half.

It was the final career collegiate basketball game for Tyrone Gordon, Jr., Luke Lamb and Keith Lee II.

Grace snapped Trojans' five-game winning streak.

Dakota State finished their 2012-13 season with an overall record of 24-10, the most wins in the Trojan men's basketball record book. In addition, the Trojans captured their second straight Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference Postseason Tournament Championship. They also made their second consecutive trip to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in school history and made it to the NAIA's 'Elite Eight' for the first time since 1992.

Grace, No. 20 in the final NAIA Division II Men's Basketball national poll, advances to the NAIA 'Final Four', facing the top-seed William Penn (Iowa) on Monday at 6 p.m.