The Dordt Defender men’s basketball team will travel to Salina, Kansas to face Kansas Wesleyan in the season opener for Dordt on Tuesday, October 27. The game is a 7:00 tip off.
Kansas Wesleyan is 1-0 this season after a win over Manhattan Christian to open the year.
AJ Range scored 29 on 11-17 field goal shooting in the win over Manhattan Christian and he had 16 rebounds. Tyus Jeffries added 14 points and had five rebounds. The Coyotes converted 4-19 three-point shots and were outrebounded 42-40. Kansas Wesleyan forced 21 turnovers and committed nine while making just 38 percent of its field goals.
Last year’s Kansas Wesleyan team posted an 18-12 record and finished 15-9 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Range led the team with 14.0 points per game and he also averaged 9.4 rebounds per game. The Coyotes have had a significant turnover of players and return six players from last year’s team but Range is the player with the most experience.
The Defender men posted a 22-9 record last season with a 13-7 GPAC mark.
Dordt’s returners include Garrett Franken, Jesse Jansma, Cade Bleeker and Ben Gesink. Franken, Jansma and Bleeker started all 31 games for Dordt last season and Gesink started 30.
Franken scored 15.9 points per game with a team high 7.5 rebounds and he converted 47.4 percent of his field goals. Jansma and Bleeker scored 12.3 and 10.2 respectively and both relied significantly on the three-point shot with Jansma converted 53 and Bleeker 64. Gesink’s average was 7.5 and had over two assists per game while Jansma led the team with nearly three assists per game.
Last year’s Defender team outscored teams 86.1-76.1 and outrebounded teams 39.7-33.5. Dordt also had a 39.2 success rate from the three-point line and held opponents to 44.4 percent field goal shooting.
Dordt is off until November 6 when the Defenders face Bellevue in the Northwestern Classic in Orange City. Dordt also faces Viterbo on November 7 in Orange City. The Defenders will open the GPAC season against Midland on November 14.
