Top two GPAC battle goes down to wire

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – Morningside University tallied 10 of the final 13 points Wednesday, Dec. 1, to pick up a critical early-season Great Plains Athletic Conference decision. 

Battling second-place Concordia University, the lone league unbeaten managed to turn back a 34-16 second-half spree by the Bulldogs that enabled the visitors to edge out to as large as a five-point advantage (74-69) in the closing moments on the Allee Gymnasium floor of the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center. Sophomore guard Joey Skoff (Bellevue, Neb.) scored six points, featuring a clutch four-for-four outing at the charity stripe. At the same time, senior center Trey Brown (Gretna, Neb.) hit two buckets, including the eventual game-winner with two and a half seconds left, to guide the comeback that led to a 79-77 victory.

Brown's late-game resume was part of a stout 20-point, eight-rebound, two-assist, two-steal night. Skoff added his name to the double-figure register with 10. Junior guard Will Pottebaum (LeMars, Iowa) and senior guard Zach Imig (Gretna, Neb.) made it four Mustangs in double digits with 15 and 10, respectively,

Morningside (6-1 overall, 4-0 GPAC) got out to a quick start in front of an appreciative home crowd. Head coach Trent Miller's squad opened as large as a 13-point lead in the first 20 minutes before entering halftime with a 42-34 advantage. Mside, stretching their current win streak to five, upped the margin to 13 again in the early stages of the second half before Concordia took off on its significant span to set up the frantic finish.

The Mustangs conclude their pre-Christmas home slate Saturday, Dec. 4. Mount Marty visits for a 6:15 p.m. tip-off.

NOTES: Brown's big evening enabled him to move into No. 13 on the all-time scoring list with 1,377 points. He goes into the weekend needing only five to surpass former teammate Alex Borchers for the No. 12 spot. Brown has reached double figures in 37 successive contests … Imig, also a fixture on the program's top 25 scoring chart, closed within 34 points of becoming the eighth player to total 1,600 or more.