MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE GA M E DAY - F E B R UA RY 24 , 20 2 1
MUSTANG BASKETBALL The 2020-21 postseason begins this evening for the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season champion Morningside College men’s and women’s basketball teams. Head coach Jamie Sale’s women’s program, harboring a 17-game win streak, is ranked No. 7 on the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics poll. They bring in a 23-2 overall as the league postseason tournament’s top seed. Head coach Jim Sykes’ men’s program stands 20-5 and is ranked No. 8 on the most recent NAIA listing. They are also the tourney’s top seed.
THE MATCH- UP Mside’s men have won 21 straight in the all-time series against Mount Marty University. The run includes a pair of nip-andtuck decisions earlier this year, as the Maroon prevailed 68-58 at home in November and 78-71 at Yankton late last month. Six of the previous eight meetings have been decided by 15-pointsor-less. Before an offensive and defensive masterpiece that led to a 99-53 Morningside victory at home against the University of Jamestown on Jan. 27, the Mustangs-Jimmies women’s series had been dictated by close-knit finishes. The previous six outings had seen point spreads of 15-points-or-less, including five that were decided by less than 10 points. A problematic second 20 minutes of field goal shooting proved to be the difference in the GPAC regular-season finale on Feb. 20. After the Mustangs used a booming 50 percent outing in the first half to lead host Northwestern College by as much as six points, Sykes’ squad went ice cold in the second half on the Red Raiders’ home Bultman Center floor. They converted on only nineof-34 attempts and went zerofor-12 outside the arc. Meanwhile, Northwestern, which has been one of the league’s hottest teams of late, went on a 46-28 run to gain an 83-
66 victory: their 10th in a row. Senior center Trey Brown managed to produce another double-double, going for 18 points and 16 rebounds to go along with two steals, an assist, and a blocked shot. Freshman guard Aidan Vanderloo tallied 12 points, sophomore guard Will Pottebaum added 11 points and three assists, and sophomore guard Trey Powers led the bench with 11 points and two assists. This evening, Imig’s first two points send him past Mark Faber (1977-81) for eighth on the all-time scoring list. He enters the night with 1,464. Brown cleared Daryl Schnoes (1982-86) for 18th on the points chart over the weekend. His 1,231 total is 13 behind Mark Mohl (1,244) for No. 17. Mside’s women capped off a memorable regular season with a victory at Northwestern on Feb. 20. After an 11-day break, they took down the Red Raiders 73-64. It was evident early on that Mside would need some perseverance to add another triumph to the already eye-popping string. The Mustangs trailed their hosts 12-8 with 3:26 left in the first quarter but managed to rebound towards their victorious vocations. They ended the frame on an 11-3 run to hold a 19-15 lead. The remainder of the first half was back and forth, with the home side overtaking their guests for a 33-31 halftime edge. The second half saw Morningside improve their ball-handling after a nineturnover first 20 minutes. Trailing 38-33 early on, they started clawing back to finish the third period up 51-45, which was an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish. Sale’s crew finished with a very evenly-distributed scoring output as five players ended in double-figure scoring. Senior guard Sierra Mitchell led them all with 16 points during an afternoon in which she connected on her 400th career three-pointer. Freshman post player Chloe Lofstrom and senior guard Faith Meyer contributed 14 points.