MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE GA M E DAY - JA N UA RY 13 , 20 21
MUSTANG BASKETBALL The second edition of the 2020-21 version of the River City Rivalry series makes its way to Allee Gymnasium and the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center this evening. Morningside College’s men and women both enter with winning strings still in process. The women, coached by Jamie Sale, have compiled seven successive triumphs and lead the Great Plains Athletic Conference at 11-1 as part of going 13-2 overall. Mside’s men, coached by Jim Sykes, have won their last three straight towards forging a similar 13-2 overall mark, including going 9-2 in the league. Briar Cliff University has the same trends going. The women’s team, coached by Brita Hand, has won three in a row and four of its last five towards crafting a 12-4 overall and 10-3 GPAC record. The Chargers’ men’s squad, coached by Mark Svagera, has a five-game win streak in tow as part of a 10-7 overall and 7-5 league record.
THE MATCH- UP An early December split at BCU’s Newman Flanagan Center opened the 2020-21 set. The women’s series has seen the two sides split the last four, including Briar Cliff winning 80-78 in the first meeting. A 76-58 Maroon road victory continued a recent span of five positive outcomes in the last six outings for Morningside. Senior center Trey Brown continues to pen a rather remarkable story for his senior campaign. He’s registered double-figure points in every game, hit 50 percent or better from the field in all but two contests, and recorded a double-double in nine of his last 12 appearances, which includes four consecutive outings. With those numbers in mind, he finds himself ranked among the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ top 20 in four categories (rebounds – No. 4 – 160/rebounds per game – No. 12 – 10.667/offensive rebounds per game – No. 16 – 3.667/blocked shots – 18 – No. 18). Fellow Gretna native and Class of 2021 member Zach Imig and freshman guard Aidan Vanderloo are also part of the nation’s first 20 statistically. Imig is 20th in steals (27), and Vanderloo sits 19th in three-point field goal accuracy (56.1 percent). This evening, Imig’s first basket moves him to No. 13, past Ryan Tegtmeier (20-13-17/1,349) on the all-time scoring list. He can also climb over Steve Brandsma (1980-84) with 15-or-more, as Brandsma stands 12th at 1362. Looking at Morningside’s women’s program’s national trends, the veteran combination of senior guard Sierra Mitchell and junior forward Sophia Peppers hold down first ten national marks in four sections. Mitchell continues to lead the way in made three-point baskets (57), ranks fourth in three-pointers per contest (3.8), and is fifth in total points (258). Peppers stands ninth in scoring (246 points).