Morningside comes up short against Northwestern 90-81

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Morningside and Northwestern battled back and forth for a majority of the game, but Northwestern was one step ahead of the Mustangs and picked up the home win 90-81 Wednesday night in Orange City.

Morningside and Northwestern were within two possessions of each other for a majority of the first half. After the Mustangs cut the Northwestern lead to one, 40-39, with 4:39 to play until halftime, the Red Raiders quickly opened up an 11-point advantage. Morningside was able to cut the lead to four at the half with a quick 7-0 run.

The Red Raiders quickly pushed the lead back out to 14 early in the second half and kept the Mustangs out of reach until Morningside rallied back to make it a four-point, 78-74 lead with five minutes to play. Morningside was unable to get closer than that in the loss.

Joey Skoff tallied 29 points and Ely Doble added 15 points. Justin Sitti and Aidan Vanderloo scored 11 points each. Caleb Dreckman tallied seven points off the bench in the loss.

Morningside now heads across town for a battle with Briar Cliff Saturday at 3:45 p.m. The Mustangs hold a 13-6 conference record heading into the season finale.