Men's Basketball Completes Season Sweep of Viterbo, 84-74

FOREST CITY, IA – The Waldorf Men's Basketball Team took early control and maintained double-digit leads for most of Wednesday night, defeating North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) foe Viterbo, 84-74, at Hanson Fieldhouse.

The Warriors' (10-15, 5-6 NSAA) victory completes a regular season sweep of the V-Hawks (11-15, 5-6 NSAA) and draws the two teams even for fifth place in the conference entering the final weekend of the regular season.  By virtue of the sweep, Waldorf holds a valuable head-to-head tiebreaker over Viterbo.

Senior point guard Khyle Washington (Atlanta, GA) led all scorers with 25 points on 9 for 14 shooting.  Many of his seven made free throws were down the stretch, allowing Waldorf to salt away the win.

After Waldorf took a 45-33 advantage into the locker room at halftime, Viterbo threatened to storm back on several occasions, cutting the lead to as few as seven with 12:29 left in regulation.  With momentum hanging in the balance, Washington scored a critical layup to extend the lead on Waldorf's next possession, ensuring that the Warriors would lead by three or more possessions the rest of the way.

The Warriors received an early spark in the game from junior guard Kaelon Harkema (Louisville, KY).  After the teams traded pairs of made threes to tie the game at 6-6, Harkema came to life.  The junior converted on four straight field goal attempts, the last of which finished off a 12-3 run to open up an 18-9 Warrior advantage with 14:51 left in the first half.

Harkema finished the night in double figures, with 13 points on 6 of 11 shooting.  Waldorf also got great bench contributions from junior guards Khalil Grayson (Milwaukee, WI) and Justin Wiggins (West Palm Beach, FL), who finished with 18 and 11 points, respectively. 

Junior center Ugo Ejiofor (Dallas, TX) was the game's leading rebounder, collecting 12 boards.  Waldorf narrowly won the rebounding battle, 36-34.

Waldorf held major advantages in both points in the paint, 44-24, and bench points, 31-15, despite using only three bench players.

With the victory, Waldorf clinches its first double-digit win season since winning 12 games in the 2019-20 campaign.  In sweeping Viterbo, Waldorf claims its first regular season sweep of a conference rival since the same 2019-20 squad swept both Dakota State and Presentation.

Waldorf enters the final weekend of the regular season a half game behind both Dakota State and Dickinson State, who are tied for third in the conference at 5-5, and 1.5 games behind Bellevue, who sits in second at 6-4.  Waldorf split the regular season series with all three teams it is chasing. The second, third, and fourth seeds will all host first round tournament matchups. 

All six other NSAA teams will compete Friday night while Waldorf is idle.  Waldorf can finish anywhere from second to sixth depending on the outcomes of the conference's six remaining regular season games.

The Warriors finish the 2023-24 regular season Saturday when they play host to first-place Mayville State in a rematch of an overtime thriller won by the Comets on January 13.  Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m. at Hanson Fieldhouse.