Sizzling shooting guides Morningside

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Top-ranked National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Division II Morningside College left fans inside Allee Gymnasium at the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center with a special holiday gift Wednesday, Dec. 19.

The Mustangs, moving to 13-0, galloped past visiting Dakota State University 101-45. They did so at a record-setting single-game field goal accuracy clip, hitting on 42 of 59 attempts for a white-hot 71.2 percent effort. Head coach Jim Sykes needed the near-perfect shooting performance early on, as the Trojans battled the host Maroon tooth and nail over the opening 10-plus minutes.

From the 9:02 mark of the first stanza until the 14:19 mark of the second half, it was all Mside much to the delight of the home crowd. They cruised on a monstrous 40-6 run over that timeframe that turned a 21-18 nip-and-tuck battle into a significant 61-24 advantage.

Just as fans have seen throughout the 2019-20 calendar to date, more balanced scoring was in store. Junior center Trey Brown (JR/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.) tallied 14 points and four rebounds, and freshman forward Trey Powers (FR/Omaha, NE) (Omaha, Neb.), who became an instant crowd favorite by not missing on five overall field-goal tries which included two three-pointers and one one-handed jam, to total 12 points in only nine minutes, which headlined a huge 55-4 bench scoring margin. Senior center Tyler Borchers (SR/Le Mars, IA ) (LeMars, Iowa) continued his climb up the career scoring list, moving into fourth with 1,642 points due to a 19-point evening, and senior guard Alex Borchers (SR/South Sioux City, NE ) (South Sioux City, Neb.) wound up with 12 points, four rebounds and five assists to top the starting five.

Morningside continues its season Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 28 and 29, at the Hoops City Classic hosted by Dakota Wesleyan University at the World's Only and Famous Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. Sykes' crew takes on the Southeastern University of Florida Saturday and the Trinity International University of Illinois Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. tip-off times, respectively.

NOTES: Morningside registered a 100-points-or-more game for a fourth straight season. It was their first since totaling 104 at Hastings last December in Great Plains Athletic Conference play.