Tjaden lifts Iowa Wesleyan men past Waldorf

MT. PLEASANT — There wasn’t a cake or any balloons at Olan G. Ruble Arena on Wednesday night, but there was a celebration.

Tiger men’s basketball head coach Alex Huisman and junior guard Jett Tjaden both spent their birthdays on the basketball court, and a big night for the ladder helped serve up the gift of a 73-62 victory.

“We knew the energy and effort would be there from these guys,” said head Coach Huisman. “That's something they've brought every day in practice.”

Iowa Wesleyan was hosting Waldorf University in its first contest of the year, and the Tigers didn’t have the easiest time in the first half. The Vikings threw down a trio of dunks early and led by as many as 12 points before the lead was cut down to 43-35 at the half.

“I told them just to relax, and remember they knew how to play the game,” Huisman said. “I knew the group we had weren’t going to lay down.”

A Viking layup in the opening seconds of the second half stretched the Waldorf lead to 10 points. That’s when Tjaden would hit his first of four second-half 3-pointers.

Tjaden would nail his first two long balls of the half in the first five minutes. He then converted on a four-point play with 13:59 remaining, and after a Waldorf miss, Chris Seymour nailed his own 3-pointer and Victor Munoz knocked down a jump shot to give the Tigers a 54-53 advantage, igniting the Iowa Wesleyan crowd.

“It was just ecstatic in the building,” Tjaden said. “The crowd is awesome, and it really helps us as a team to feed off their energy.”

The Tigers would never trail again. Iowa Wesleyan held onto momentum through the rest of the game, and stretched it to double-digits when Tjaden’s final 3-pointer of the night made it 66-56.

“It feels good, obviously,” Tjaden said. “I'm glad I helped the team out by making a couple of shots.”

Tjaden went 5-for-6 from deep and led the team with 18 points. Kaleb Cresswell scored 15, and Joey Brown finished with nine points, eight assists and eight rebounds in his first game as a Tiger.

Alex Dentlinger and Seymore each scored seven points in the win. Symore led the team with three steals. Munoz scored six points. Jaylen Washington and Kolby Williams had five and four respectively, and Francis Okwuosah ended the night with two.

The Tigers are now 1-0 on the year with a date at Grand View University on Friday, but no matter what happens from here on out, Coach Huisman’s team is unbeaten on his day of birth.

“A win on your birthday is a good way to end the day,” Huisman said.