Thursday, January 5th, 2023
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University started the new year by hosting Doane University on Wednesday Night inside the Wikert Event Center. The Warriors had several role players step up in the contest with the injury bug hitting the team. They picked up the resounding 89-74 win over the Tigers as they scored 27 points off of turnovers. Midland has now won three straight games to climb their record to 7-9 overall and 1-7 in the GPAC. With the loss, Doane falls to 7-9 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
The Tigers came out strong on a 9-0 run to quiet the crowd in the early going. The Warriors responded with a 14-5 answer, tying the game at the 10:48 mark.
Following an injury to starting guard Ryan Larsen, Rece Kissinger pulled off his warmups and checked into the game. He made the most of his opportunity with 10 first-half points. Midland used a 9-2 stretch over the last three and a half minutes to take the lead, 41-37, heading into the locker rooms.
The two familiar opponents kept the point differential in single digits during the first 10 minutes of the second. After the midway mark, Midland went a 15-2 run to go up 18. The scoring run featured three-pointers from Colton Uhing, Dominic Humm, and Jake Orr. Orr capped off the Warriors’ largest lead of the night with a breakaway dunk, putting them up 78-60 with 6:36 to play.
Heady play from guards Dominic Humm and Emanuel Bryson helped preserve the advantage as Midland picked up the 15-point win, 89-74.
It was an overall team win with 30 points off the bench and 22 assists on 33 field goals. Defensively, they held Doane to 30% from beyond the arc (9-for-30) and forced 14 turnovers.
Orr played with a restless edge for 39 minutes as he mounted a stat line that consisted of 26 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals. Humm had a season-high of 17 points while adding 4 assists. Kissinger and Bryson totaled 12 and 10, respectively.
“We had to piece it together or super glue it tonight. Really proud of our guys,” said head coach Tyler Erwin post-game. “With Ryan going down early and battling foul trouble with others, Rece and Manny both gave us a lot of help off the bench. We have a ‘next man up’ mentality.”
When asked about the team’s growing confidence, Coach Erwin added. “It started at Dakota State with us playing well and winning a close game. December was tough for us with a lot of close losses. We’re starting to come out on the right side of it and building some momentum. We’ve got a lot of momentum going and our guys believe in what we’re doing. We’ve had some good practices lately with guys challenging each other and that has transferred into the games.”
Midland (7-9, 1-7 GPAC) will step back inside the Wikert Event Center to take on No. 23 Morningside (11-3, 5-2 GPAC) on Saturday afternoon. The game is slated for a 3:45 p.m. tip, following the women’s game, on January 7. Last year, the Warriors broke a 10-game winless streak against the Mustangs in Sioux City in their season finale.
Courtesy of Midland University
