MITCHELL, S.D. – Mystic Men's Basketball began their inaugural NAIA season on Tuesday evening as they were in The Corn Palace to take on the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers.
On a day that had been circled on the calendars since last spring, the Mystics started hot out of the gate as a team looking to make a statement. They daggered their way to a 12-2 lead less than five minutes into the first half as the Tigers were without answers, missing seven consecutive three-pointers.
Dakota Wesleyan clawed their way back to take the 24-21 lead before BSC tied it at 26 with just over five minutes to go in the first half. The Tigers found their spark out of a media timeout as they went on a subsequent 13-point run to close the half with a 39-26 advantage.
It was a lead that DWU would not give back as they held the advantage through the second half and defeated the Mystics by a score of 82-62.
The Mystics were led in scoring by
Avery Wesley with 15 points, who also led the team in steals with an impressive five takeaways. Wesley returns to the Mystics for his second year after posting over 11 points per game for the team last season.
Behind Wesley in scoring were newcomer
Houston Davis with 10, along with big-man returner
Carter Zeller, who also scored 10 and tallied his first double-double of the season after he had six last season, as he collected 13 rebounds, a career-high.
Alex Proctor scored eight points, going 4-6 from the field, building on his 2023-24 season with the Mystics, where he had a FG percentage of 45%.
Tristin Davis led the team in assists with three.
BSC showed a deep bench during their season opener as they outmatched DWU in bench points 20-12. In turn, the Tigers had a decisive advantage in points off turnovers, 33-21.
The Mystics will return to Bismarck and prepare for next week's home opener as they welcome Trinity Bible College to the Armory on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. The TBC Lions, of Ellendale, N.D., dropped their season opener to Dakota State, 79-62.
Make sure to check the schedule for information on how to stream and attend the upcoming games.
Be sure to visit BSCMystics.com and download the MysticNation app to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Mystic Athletics.
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