High-Flying Finale - Mside puts stamp on memorable regular season
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Morningside (18-2, 26-2) | 43 | 53 | 96 |
|
Northwestern (12-8, 20-10) | 30 | 41 | 71 |
ORANGE CITY, IOWA – An early first half 16-2 run enabled National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Division II No. 2-ranked Morningside College to move towards a spectacular ending to the 2019-20 regular season Saturday, Feb. 22.
Head coach Jim Sykes' Mustangs roared out to a 43-30 halftime lead behind the span and kept the offensive fireworks going in force full at Northwestern College's Bultmann Center throughout. Mside hit at a better than 59 percent clip from the field which included draining 11 three-pointers and out-rebounded the host Red Raiders 40-23. A 53-point second half, marking the third time in the last four contests that the Maroon tallied 50-or-more, wrapped up a 96-71 Great Plains Athletic Conference victory.
Junior forward Zach Imig (JR/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.) led the attack which featured six players ending in double-figure scoring. He registered 19 points to go with five assists and four rebounds to spotlight his fifth consecutive and 11th in the 12 contests double-digit point total. Fellow Class of 2021 team member and Gretna native Trey Brown (JR/Gretna, NE ) was next in line tallying 17 points to add to four rebounds and two assists.
Morningside, ending the regular season at 26-2 overall and 18-2 in the league, begins 2020 GPAC postseason tournament play Wednesday, Feb. 26. They host Hastings College, the tourney's eighth seed, at 8 p.m. inside Allee Gymnasium of the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.
NOTES: The remaining double-figure marks were gathered by freshman Will Pottebaum (FR/LeMars, IA) (LeMars, Iowa) (14 points); senior forward Matt Hahn (SR/Fremont, NE ) (Fremont, Neb.) (12 points); senior guard Alex Borchers (SR/South Sioux City, NE ) (South Sioux City, Neb.) (11 points); and senior center Tyler Borchers (SR/Le Mars, IA ) (LeMars, Iowa) (10 points). Tyler Borchers' afternoon included dishing out six assists and grabbing five rebounds with the final board tying him for the top spot on the program's career list (911) with Phil Wiggins (1961-64).