Elite Eight - Second half surge leads Morningside

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Scoring 14 of the final 22 points Friday, March 8, enabled Morningside College to move on in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Division II Championships action.

For head coach Jim Sykes, his team's tying a school record with its 29^th victory came down to scrappiness over the final 20 minutes.

"We talked at halftime about how we needed to get our hands on loose balls … get some turnovers," he noted. "In most cases, when we had the opportunity (to do so in the second half), it led to points.

Hey, (Mt. Vernon Nazarene) is a very good team," he added. "They came out early hitting a lot of shots. We knew we'd get a challenge … it was a great game and a great win."

Mside's second successive advancement to the Elite Eight was spearheaded by junior forward/center Tyler Borchers (JR/Le Mars, IA ) (LeMars, Iowa). As the fourth-seeded Cougars were seemingly tossing in every long-range shot in the opening half, at a rate of 57.1 percent (eight of 14), the Maroon's inside presence battled in the paint, scoring on lay-ups, short to mid-range jump shots and getting to the free throw line. When the dust settled, he had registered his 17^th straight double-figure outing and moved over 500 points in a season for the second year in a row behind 26 points which was just part of his night as he also dished off three assists, picked up a pair of steals, blocked a Cougar shot attempt and grabbed four rebounds.

The Mustangs' big man attack didn't end with him, either. Sophomore center Trey Brown (SO/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.), a night after narrowly missing a double-double against Mayville State, came back with what might have looked like a small four-point, five-rebound effort but, just like his junior teammate, he kept Mount Vernon Nazarene's defense at bay.

"(Trey and Trent) each supplied big games," Sykes reflected. "Trey has been great this week … he's just going out and having fun. When Tyler gets going like tonight, he can really be tough to stop. I think, overall, for him the biggest key was going eight of 11 at the free throw line … that's great with some clutch makes."

Senior guard Brody Egger (SR/Urbandale, IA) (Urbandale, Iowa) and sophomore guard Zach Imig (SO/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.) added their names to the double-digit registry with 13 apiece. Egger was eight-for-eight at the free throw line, while Imig went six-of-10 from the field.

Morningside moves into national quarterfinal round competition Saturday, March 9, against College of Idaho. The one and two seeds in the Cramer Bracket tip-off at 6 p.m.