The Doane men's basketball team rallied in the second half and hit enough free throws down the stretch to defeat Dana College, 64-61.
Doane took an early nine point lead, led by back-to-back three-pointers from Tyler Cyboron. The Vikings answered back with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 15-all. The two squads battled back and forth but it was a 7-0 run by the Vikings that gave them the lead going into the break, 29-27.
In the second half, Doane tied the game on their first possession as Jens Scholl hit a jumper. On the Tiger's next possession, Jake Johnson converted a three-point play to give Doane the lead. The Vikings came back and eventually built a four point lead over the Tigers, 44-40.
The Tigers tied the game on back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson. Alex McCleary grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back for two points in between Doane's possessions. Dana retook the lead on a basket by PJ Mallette but it was short lived as Cyboron hit a three-pointer to give the Tigers the lead. Doane wouldn't trail again but the Vikings were able to tie the game late.
Dana erased a seven point Doane lead in the final 2:37 to tie the game at 61-all with 47 seconds remaining. On the Tigers' next possession, Zach Moult drew a foul and hit one of his two free throws. Dana's following possession led to a missed shot and Johnson was fouled. He missed both free throws, keep the Tiger lead at one.
The Doane defense picked up another stop and Johnson was once again fouled. This time around, he hit the first of two to extend the Tiger lead to 63-61. On his second free throw, he missed but Brett McFarland grabbed the rebound and ran the clock down to 0.2 seconds before he was fouled. He hit the first and missed the second to close out the scoring.
Johnson led the Tigers with 19 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Cyboron added 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Jens Scholl finished with 11 points and six boards for the Tigers. Trent Schlautman had a game-high seven assists. Zach Moult led the team with three steals.
Dana received 16 points from Danny Petersen and 15 points and 13 rebounds from Taylor Oltjenbruns. AJ Arkfeld added 12 points and three assists.