Late run spurs Mustangs to GPAC road victory

SIOUX CENTER, IOWA – Life away from the home court in the Great Plains Athletic Conference is never an easy one.

Just ask Morningside College head men's basketball coach Jim Sykes and his 2020-21 Mustangs. Looking to continue to tighten their grip on first place on the loop standings, the Maroon was pushed to the proverbial wall Wednesday, Jan. 20, at Dordt University's DeWitt Gymnasium.

A deep breath of relief couldn't be drawn by Sykes, his staff, or the team until senior center Trey Brown (SR/Gretna, NE ) (Gretna, Neb.) calmly sank two pressure free throws with just over a second remaining to ice an 84-80 win over the Defenders. The two successful charity tosses concluded a game-deciding 6-2 stretch in the last 3:21 that broke up a 78-78 tie.

En route to his seventh straight double-double, Brown scored each of the visitors' points down the stretch. His traditional three-point play with 2:15 left gave Morningside the lead for good. He then went three-for-four at the free-throw line to wrap things up.

The senior post standout concluded a monster evening with 23 points, 14 rebounds, and two assists. His fellow Gretna, Neb., native, senior guard Zach Imig (SR/Gretna, NE ), was also feeling the double-double line of thinking and wasn't far from a rare triple-double. Imig wound up with 14 points, ten rebounds, and seven assists. Freshman guard Aidan Vanderloo (FR/Sioux City, IA) (Sioux City, Iowa) added his name to the double-digit scoring registry with 12 points.

Morningside is slated to step back on its home Allee Gymnasium floor inside the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center Saturday, Jan. 23. Tip-off against Midland University is 4 p.m.