A Game to Remember - Mustangs conclude special season

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – As they were greeting each other with smiles and high fives for all as the clock ticked down Wednesday, March 11, none of the 2019-20 Morningside College men's basketball team and the remainder of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' Division II tournament attendees could not have known what was ahead in the coming days.

An opposition of bigger stature, scary quickness and the ability to target people more than imagined.

Head coach Jim Sykes got the word from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' national office as a practice was letting out right before noon Thursday, March 12. He, the eight seniors who created one of the Great Plains Athletic Conference's, region's and nation's most amazing stretches over the last two seasons, and the entire Maroon community were dropped to their literal knees with the announcement of the cancellation of the championships due to the spread and scare of the COVID-19 virus.

Sykes' thoughts about a team that went 27-3, won the program's third straight conference championship and advanced to the national tournament for the fourth straight year were of difficulty of a loss that didn't happen on the court … a dashed chance to reach great heights at the national tournament. Through that though, speaking about individuals who made their mark on a tradition-rich program.

"It was the first time in the four years with these seniors that I could not look them in the eyes to tell them that the opportunity to compete for a championship was no longer an option," he noted in the soon to be released Stampede newsletter. "All that remains now are questions that we will never get answered.

In my mind, this group of guys are champions both on and off the court," he added. "Yes … winning games is the goal, and they did a great job there. The compliments I hear about the way they conduct themselves off the court is far more important to me. The culture that these young men have created is something that I hope continues for years to come as they made it about the team and not a bunch of individuals each having their own agenda."

What the 2019-20 Mustangs delivered to the fans in attendance at the Sanford Pentagon Wednesday, March 11, even if an unexpected curtain call, was one of near perfection. Battling a feisty College of Ozarks' program with plenty of national tournament experience, Mside shoot a sizzling 56.5 percent from the field, held a better than two-to-one advantage on the boards (48-26), picked off 10 steals and blocked four shots while committing only nine turnovers to roll to a 99-58 victory.

COO guard Brandt Cochran and the Wildcats didn't make it easy early on. Cochran hit two threes and scored 10 points in the first four and a half minutes as the visitors tallied 12 of the first 20. From that point on, though, the division's No. 3-ranked squad showed off its wares, compiling a 25-11 run for a 33-23 lead which continued to grow the remainder of the next 34-plus minutes. Fifteen Morningside players stepped on the venerable venue's floor with five of them winding up in double figures in the form of senior center Tyler Borchers (LeMars, Iowa) (18 points); junior center Trey Brown (14 points, seven rebounds, and four blocked shots); junior guard Zach Imig (Gretna, Neb.) (13 points, nine rebounds and seven assists); freshman guard Will Pottebaum (LeMars, Iowa) (13 points, six rebounds); and senior guard Alex Borchers (South Sioux City, Neb.) (12 points, four steals).

"From the time we got to Sioux Falls, this was strictly a business trip, and the focus was there," Sykes said. "Throughout the regular season, the Bobcats averaged 81 points per game with excellent perimeter play. They got off to a good start knocking down shots and playing with a lot of energy. We had not played a game in nearly two weeks and it took us a bit to hit our stride. We finished the first half strong and went into the locker room with a twelve-point lead holding them to thirty first-half points. After a quick halftime talk, the guys came out in the second half and really got after them. We outscored them 57-28 in the final twenty minutes getting everyone in the game."