FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University took court inside the Wikert Event Center on Wednesday night for a Great Athletic Plains Conference (GPAC) matchup against Doane University. After a hard-fought battle, the Warriors fell to the Tigers, 83-89, to begin the new year. With the results, Midland’s record drops to 3-11 and 1-8 in the GPAC. Doane improved its record to 10-5 and 4-5 in the conference.
The Warriors took an early advantage at the start of the game, getting a chance at two free throws before the jump ball due to an administrative technical foul. Lexi Kraft made both free throws to give the Warriors the two-point head start. After the jump ball, the Tigers were eager to tie the game early. Just as both teams were beginning to match points, Doane went on a 10-0 run to take an eight-point lead. Emma Shepard halted the rally and then Kennedy Darner follow with a pair of three-pointers to narrow the game back to three. Doane held a 19-15 lead after the first quarter.
Erin Prusa got the Warriors started in the second quarter with a layup but the Tigers quickly responded with multiple baskets. Midland turned up the heat, going on a 10-0 run to take back the lead with just over two minutes before the break. The teams traded baskets in the final minutes to end and ended deadlocked at 34-34 going into halftime.
After the intermission, Doane opened up with a quick 12-point burst to give them separation on the scoreboard. Midland tried to match the offensive output of their opponent and outside of the quick spurt to begin the quarter, they did just that. The teams combined for 54 points in the third with Doane putting up 31 to Midland’s 23, holding an eight-point lead into the final quarter.
In the final 10 minutes, the Warriors chipped away at the lead. A 6-0 run at the 4:18 mark knotted the game at 79-79. Doane responded though with a half dozen straight to regain the separation as they held on for the 89-83 win.
Leading the Warriors in scoring was Sam Shepard with 19 points, followed closely by Emma Shepard with 18 points. Lexi Kraft and Asia Bryant both added 11 points each. Bryant and Sam Shepard tied for a team-best three assists while Sarah Shepard pulled in six rebounds to lead the team.
For the game, the Warriors shot 27-of-58 (46.6%), while the Tigers shot 35-of-61 (57.4%). Tigers held a substantial lead in second-chance points, 23-9, and scored 23 points off Midland turnovers.
“I thought today we played better than maybe we did on Saturday. I think we’re growing a bit offensively,” commented head coach Shawn Gilbert. “We still have some work to do defensively. If we can score points like we did today, you’re going to be in basketball games. I told the kids I was proud of their effort. Getting on the floor for loose balls, forcing some turnovers, and some of those hustle types of plays. Credit to Doane, they hit some big shots after we got it cut back to two. It was just a good old-fashioned GPAC game, a good old rock fight.”
Midland (3-11, 1-8 GPAC) will be back in action at home on a Saturday afternoon as they host Morningside (9-6, 4-5 GPAC). The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m. on January 7 in Fremont.
