Morningside outworks No. 8 Defenders at home

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The Morningside University men's basketball team defeated the No. 8 Dordt Defenders 88-74 in Allee Gymnasium, marking the third Top 10 win of the season.

"So thrilled with how we ended the game," head coach Trent Miller said. "I thought we did a nice job of forcing them to take tough shots down the stretch. I just love how my guys were creating shots for each other at the end. For our guys to respond when it was close, I loved how they executed down the stretch."

Neither team led by double digits in the first half, despite Morningside (17-5, 10-4 GPAC) holding a nine-point lead. The lead was exchanged eight times and tied four. The Mustangs shot 43 percent during the first half.

Then, things came together for the Mustangs in the second half on both ends of the floor. The Mustangs shot 53 percent, while holding the Defenders to 38 percent.

Morningside ended the game on a 21-7 run during the final 8 minutes, 54 seconds of play. Joey Skoff and Aidan Vanderloo scored seven points each during that stretch. Daniel Brocaille made a 3-pointer in front of the Morningside student section, while Brendan Buckley and Justin Sitti scored during that stretch, too.

"Picking up a win against a first-place team in the conference, it means a ton," Vanderloo said. "Picking up every win we can at this point in the season is huge."

The Mustangs had four men score in double figures. Skoff led the charge with a 27-point game. Vanderloo hit seven shots for a 20-point game, while Sitti wound up with 12 and Buckley 10.

Brocaille led the Mustangs with 12 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Morningside won the rebounding battle, 40-31. Morningside's defense forced Dordt to go nearly eight minutes without a made field goal.

"Limiting teams to one shot per possession is going to be the name of the game for the rest of the year," Vanderloo said. "We get into the conference tournament, the national tournament, and that winning the rebounding battle makes all the difference for us. We play a different brand of basketball. Down the stretch, our 5-man hits a 3 to put us up by double digits. That's just the kind of style we play."

Eighteen of the 30 made shots came from assists, led by Buckley with five, Sitti with four and Brocaille three.

Morningside took care of the ball, turning it over eight times and just twice during the second half.