SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Twelve straight points played a big role for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II top-ranked Morningside College Saturday, Jan. 11.
Locked in a nip-and-tuck battle with Great Plains Athletic Conference rival Northwestern College over the early portion of the opening half, head coach Jim Sykes squad used the run from the 11:42 to 8:32 mark to open a 13-point lead in front of a happy Maroon crowd gathered inside Allee Gymnasium of the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center. From that point, the margin continued to grow, as Mside narrowly missed hitting the 60 mark in the opening frame, leading 57-36 at the break, and ended only two points shy of a second triple-digits total for the season in a rousing 98-69 victory.
The road to standing 18-0 overall and ending the first half of the 2019-20 conference slate with a perfect 10-0 mark was paved with offensive balance. Behind a white-hot 64.4 percent overall field goal effort and draining three-pointers at an equally stratospheric 58.3 percent clip, junior guard Zach Imig (JR/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.) (15 points), junior center Trey Brown (JR/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.) (14 points), senior forward Ben Hoskins (SR/Wayne, NE ) (Wayne, Neb.) (13 points), senior center Tyler Borchers (SR/Le Mars, IA ) (LeMars, Iowa) (13 points), senior guard Alex Borchers (SR/South Sioux City, NE ) (South Sioux City, Neb.) (12 points) and freshman guard Will Pottebaum (FR/LeMars, IA) (LeMars, Iowa) (10 points) found themselves in double figures. Imig, who became the 33rd member of the programs 1,000-point club just three days prior, added four rebounds and five assists to his afternoon; Alex Borchers, who joined Hoskins in canning three three-pointers, turned in three assists, three steals, a blocked shot and three rebounds to go with his scoring output; and Brown was also near the top of other categories with four assists, three rebounds and a blocked shot to help spotlight his 14-point day.
Morningside begins the second half of loop action Wednesday, Jan. 15, hosting Doane University. Game time is 8 p.m.
SIOUX CITY, IOWA – A four-game win streak and seven wins in its last eight opportunities are the trends National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II No. 7-ranked Morningside College takes into the second half of the 2019-20 Great Plains Athletic Conference season.
Head coach Jamie Sales squad, which has been on the rise of late, continued that theme Saturday, Jan. 11. Snapping a three-game series skid against loop rival Northwestern College, the Mustangs used a quick second-half start to break away to a 76-66 victory.
The Mustangs, moving to 15-4 overall and 9-2 in the league, scored 19 of the first 23 points of the second 20 minutes, opening up a 20-point lead. NWC battled back to as close as six in the closing moments, but junior guard Sierra Mitchell (JR/Pleasant Hill, IA) (Pleasant Hill, Iowa), concluding a 26-point afternoon, hit six straight charity tosses over the final 14 seconds to lock up the decision.
Mitchells stat line included six three-point baskets, allowing her to add another game to her already lengthy roll of successive outings with two-or-more treys (16). Sophomore forward Sophia Peppers (SO/Exira, IA) (Exira, Iowa) also had a big role, tallying a double-double (13 points and 13 rebounds) which was the second of her career and season. Freshman guard Olivia Larsen (FR/Fonda, Iowa) (Newell, Iowa) registered an impressive resume, scoring seven points and picking off four steals.
Morningside begins the second half of GPAC play Wednesday, Jan. 15. Doane University visits for a 6 p.m. start.
NOTES: Mitchell moved up a spot on the program scoring list. She climbed into the No. 21 spot (1,243 points) surpassing Eric Thein (1998-2002).
