Courtesy of Midland Athletics
ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Midland University continued its Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) slate with a road trip to take on (RV) Northwestern College inside the Bultman Center on Saturday. After back-and-forth scoring between the two teams in the first period, the Raiders created separation early in the second half and pulled away for the 87-66 win. With the setback, Midland’s record slides to 7-12 overall and 1-10 in the GPAC. Northwestern moves up to 14-4 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
Emanuel Bryson scored the first basket of the game and continued his strong play with a team-high 12 points on the afternoon. The Warriors’ lead after the first basket of the game would be their only lead as the Raiders kept them at arm’s length after a 5-0 run to start their scoring.
Midland stayed within a possession or two throughout the half but after a jumper by Jake Orr made it 27-24, Northwestern went on a run and pushed the lead to nine. At the break, the Raiders’ lead was 38-32.
Coming out of the halftime locker rooms, Northwestern busted out of the gates and went on a 9-0 scoring stretch, giving them a 50-34 cushion. They would maintain their double-digit lead the rest of the way as they kept Midland from going on any type of scoring run until midway through.
With 8:25 left, the Warriors put together a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to seven with big baskets from Bryson. The Raiders responded with an 11-3 stretch run as they shot 55% (5-for-9) from beyond the arc and were 10-for-11 in the period, putting the game out of reach.
The Warriors had a bright spot shooting 50% (11-for-22) from behind the arc. Overall they struggled to put the ball in the hoop, shooting 38% (24-for-63) from the field.
Bryson posted a double-double as he added 10 rebounds to go with his 12 points. Four more players put up double-digits in the scoring column as Jake Rueschhoff, Rece Kissinger, and Dominic Humm all had 11. Orr, who had 10 points, earned the bulk of his at the free throws going 6-for-8 at the stripe.
Head coach Tyler Erwin had this to say about the flow of the game. “We played good enough to give ourselves a chance in the second half. Give them credit. They came out in the second half and their top three guys hurt us. We cut the lead down to seven at 5:58 left but when we needed stops, we couldn’t get them. Overall, we need more consistency on both ends of the floor.”
Midland (7-12, 1-10 GPAC) will come back home as they’ll face Mount Marty (7-12, 3-8 GPAC) this coming Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7:45 p.m. on January 18 as they look to avenge an early season 67-62 loss to the Lancers.
