Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University wrapped up play in the Thanksgiving Classic on Sunday as they hosted Bellevue University inside the Wikert Event Center. The Warriors overcame a halftime deficit to take down the Bruins, 69-65, putting an end to a five-game losing streak.
Colton Uhing and Derek Merwick started the Warriors off in the first half with a free throw and field goal. After a few quiet minutes, the Bruins went on an 8-0 run to take control early. Trailing 15-7, Jack Cooper helped spark an 11-2 run to put the Warriors in front, 18-17.
Following a three-pointer from the Bruins, Merwick tied the game at 20-20 heading into the final six minutes. Bellevue heated up, going on a 10-1 run, and then traded baskets with Midland en route to a 37-30 at the half.
After the intermission, Dominic Humm started the Warriors off in the second half with a basket to start the comeback. Layups by Brayden Thompson and Nick Dolezal, followed by a pair of free throws from Merwick brought the game back even at 38-38. Minutes later, Dolezal found himself at the line for two, giving the Warriors the lead. The Bruins were able to pull even at 40-40 but were never able to get over the hump to take the lead.
With just over two minutes to play, Bellevue worked itself even at 65-65. Midland responded with four points from Merwick as they closed out the home win, 69-65.
Derek Merwick led the Warriors with 19 points. He was followed by Jake Rueschhoff and Nick Dolezal with 10 points each while Brayden Thompson added 9 and Ryan Larsenfinished with 8.
For the game, Midland shot 24-of-52 (46.2%) and Bellevue shot 22-of-52 (42.3%). MU had an advantage at the charity stripe, converting on 19-of-29 (65.5%) while BU was 12-of-17 (70.6%). The Bruins committed 14 turnovers, resulting in 13 points for the Warriors.
“We did a good job of guarding. Our rebounding could’ve been a little bit better,” commented head coach Tyler Erwin. “We kind of mucked it up and slowed things down a bit, and then got stops when we needed to. At the end of the game, I called quite a few timeouts to settle us in and build our guys with some confidence. When you’re losing close games, there’s a lot of questions. We talked in the locker room after the game. Everyone did something to help win. Really proud of our guys’ response to the challenges we’ve put on them.”
Midland (2-5, 0-3 GPAC) will return to conference play next week with a home matchup against Concordia (3-2, 0-2 GPAC) on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. inside the Wikert Event Center in Fremont, Nebraska on November 29.
