Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University men’s basketball faced the Lancers of Mount Marty on Wednesday night in a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) matchup. The Lancers bounced back from their early-season loss to the Warriors with a 75-66 wire-to-wire victory.
Midland fell behind early as the Lancers went on an 18-8 run to open the game. They responded with a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to three by the 10-minute mark of the half.
The Warriors struggled to find the bottom of the net in the first half, shooting 13-of-31 (41.9%) from the field and going scoreless from behind the arc, 0-for-8.
Despite the shooting woes, Tyler Sandoval did his part in keeping the contest close as he scored 10 points and grabbed three rebounds in the period. Midland trailed 37-31 at the intermission.
In the second half, things would get messy for both sides. Both teams struggled to take care of the ball, combining for 13 turnovers and the game became more physical with 26 fouls recorded in the half.
The Warriors took advantage of the defensive affair and trailed by just three with 10 minutes left to play in the game. However, their poor shooting would continue to haunt them, connecting on just 3-of-13 triples and shooting 11-of-28 (39.3%) overall.
Mount Marty pushed their advantage to 13 points as the game winded down and connected on 14-of-16 free throws to seal their 75-66 victory.
Four of the Warriors’ starting five eclipsed double-digits in the game. Laurence Merritt led the attack with 15 points, followed by Jake Rueschhoff’s 11 points, Sandoval and Bo Sandquist both added 10 points each.
Next up for Midland (14-8, 5-7 GPAC) is a road trip to Sioux Center, Iowa to face Dordt (13-7, 5-6 GPAC). The Warriors will look to even the season series after falling in a tightly contested, 88-83 overtime game versus the Defenders earlier this season at home. Tip-off is set for 3:45 p.m. at De Witt gymnasium on Saturday, January 22.
