Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University claimed their second Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) win against Mount Marty University on Thursday night at home. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the game was pushed back a day after a winter storm moved through the area dumping snow and ice. With the win, Midland is now 2-10 in the GPAC and 8-13 overall while Mount Marty drops to 4-9 in the conference to go with an 8-12 overall record.
Following an evenly matched first half that saw the Warriors take a 41-37 lead to the locker room. Rece Kissinger led the way for Midland with 13 points while Josh Arlt matched his output for the Lancers.
Mount Marty worked their way to a five-point lead during a physical start to the second half. With 12:22 to play, they found themselves in the double bonus, having drawn 10 fouls from Midland in less than eight minutes. The Warriors were quick to join them as they reached the double bonus with just under nine minutes to go. In total, 60 free throws would be shot between both teams by the time the final buzzer sounded.
Trailing by four with a minute to go in the game, the Warriors rallied behind their stout defense. A jumper by Jake Orr but the deficit in half with 52 seconds to go. Dominic Humm would bring them within a point following a trip to the foul line. After a 1-for-2 trip to the foul line for the Lancers, Humm came up big with a game-tying basket with six seconds on the clock.
Mount Marty attempted to get the ball up the sideline but Orr tipped it out. A miscommunication by the Lancers after a timeout with three seconds led to a turnover and sent the game to overtime.
In the extra five minutes, Midland scored the first four points and never wavered. They collected seven defensive rebounds off of misses from the visitors who we left with fouling as time ticked away. The Warriors went 6-for-10 at the foul line and outscored the Lancers 13-5 for the overtime victory.
For the game, the Warriors owned the glass. They outrebounded their opponents 60 to 41.
Kissinger led the team with a career-high 17 points on the night, while Orr added gained another double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Larsen and Humm garnered 11 and 9 points, respectively. Humm was one point from joining his teammates in double figures and from registering his first double-double as he corralled 10 rebounds.
“We pieced it together tonight,” commented head coach Tyler Erwin. “Like I told our guys in the locker room… it’s a puzzle and everybody contributed tonight. Dom [Humm] played extremely well down the stretch and Rece played really well early. His progression has been tremendous. We played in the middle of the floor, and we hurt them with it.”
Midland (8-12, 2-10 GPAC) will return to the road as they try to break a nine-game losing streak against Dordt (15-4, 7-4 GPAC) this Saturday in Sioux Center, Iowa. The game is set for a 3:45 p.m. tip on January 21 inside DeWitt Gymnasium.
