Courtesy of Midland Athletics
LANGSTON, Okla. – Midland University traveled to Langston, Oklahoma to take on No. 4 Langston University on Saturday afternoon. After playing the Lions close early on, turnovers plagued the Warriors as suffered their first loss of the season, 76-59.
The teams were tied 4-4 through the first handful of minutes before Langston went on a 9-0 run that was fueled by four Midland turnovers in the stretch. Ryan Larsen broke the scoreless drought for the Warriors with a three-pointer, making the score 13-7 at the midpoint of the half.
Langston continued its pressure as it extended the lead into double digits, leading by as many as 14 in the first half. Baskets by Jake Orr and Derek Merwick in the final minute led to a 5-0 run for the Warriors as they trailed 34-25 at the break.
Merwick opened the second half with a basket and the teams began trading points. The Lions started to head up from behind the arc. They pushed their lead back into double digits thanks in large part to seven three-pointers. The Warriors were plagued by turnovers throughout, finishing with 17. Langston turned those extra chances into 19 points, which proved to be one of the main deciding factors in the game as they won 76-59.
Brayden Thompson led the Warriors with 13 points. Closely behind were Derek Merwick and Ryan Larsen, who scored 10 points each. Merwick added six rebounds and four assists, both team highs, to his final stat line.
For the game, Midland shot 22-of-49 (44.9%) while Langston had a slight edge at 28-of-62 (45.2%). In addition to the Lions 19 points off turnovers, they added 10 second-chance points. The Warriors had just two points off of six turnovers and four points off of second-chances.
“We played a really tough national tournament-type team. They are well-coached and have great athleticism at every position,” said head coach Tyler Erwin after the game. “Probably our toughness challenge today was making shots at the rim or around the rim. Their length and size caused us some problems and they contested everything. We left a lot of points out there that we normally make. This tough road environment will make us better. We are really excited to be at home for the first time and I know this. We will be prepared and have great energy for Wednesday night.”
Midland (1-1) will take on (RV) Briar Cliff (5-0) for its home and conference opener on Wednesday, November 15. The Great Plains Athletic Conference matchup is set for 7:45 p.m. inside the Wikert Event Center in Fremont, Nebraska.
