Courtesy of Midland Athletics
YANKTON, S.D. — Midland traveled to Yankton, South Dakota, to face Mount Marty University in a Great Plains Athletic Conference game Wednesday night. The Warriors fell in a tough battle, 69-57, on the road to the Lancers.
Jake Orr opened the game for the Warriors with a layup, and the Lancers quickly responded with one of their own to start a back-and-forth battle. A 3-pointer by Butch Lordeus pushed Midland ahead 9-6, but Mount Marty answered with an 8-0 run to take a 14-9 lead, forcing a Midland timeout with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
After the break, Nick Dolezal converted a layup and a free throw, but the Lancers continued to apply pressure, using a 5-0 run to lead 21-14. Amari Rahaman added a layup, and Mount Marty followed with two free throws. Dylan Simons and Lordeus scored back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to five, 23-18. Mount Marty capped the half with a 4-0 run to lead 27-18 at halftime.
After the intermission, Orr opened the second half at the free-throw line to spark a 6-0 run that cut the deficit to three, 27-24. Mount Marty extended the lead with four free throws, but Lordeus and Simons answered with baskets of their own as the Lancers maintained the advantage.
Alec Noonan knocked down a 3-pointer to bring Midland within two, 39-37. Mount Marty answered with a basket and a free throw before Trey McCain and Simons hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it a one-point game. After a Lancers layup, Noonan hit another 3-pointer to tie the game at 46-46 with nine minutes remaining.
Mount Marty responded with a 7-2 run to build a 53-48 lead. Lordeus added a layup to cut it to 53-50 before the Lancers used a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 59-50. Mount Marty later went on a 4-2 stretch at the free-throw line, while Simons converted two free throws to make it 63-54 with less than two minutes remaining.
The Lancers added four more free throws before Simons scored a layup and a free throw to cut the deficit to 10, 67-57, with 44 seconds left. Mount Marty closed the scoring with two free throws to secure the 69-57 victory.
Butch Lordeus led the Warriors with 14 points, followed by Dylan Simons with 12.
For the game, Midland shot 22 of 49 (44.9%), while Mount Marty shot 18 of 42 (42.9%). Mount Marty finished 30 of 35 (85.7%) from the free-throw line, while Midland went 8 of 13 (61.5%).
“Tough road game tonight. I thought we struggled offensively in the first half. In the second half we moved the ball, shared the ball, and made shots. I wish we could have done that more consistently. Our defense gave us a chance tonight. We gave up too many offensive rebounds but we gave ourselves a chance late. I really like our fight. We got it to a four minute game. They made plays down the stretch and we didn’t. We had good production off the bench from Dylan and Alec. Cole Petersen affects the game defensively as well.” commented head coach Tyler Erwin.
Midland (11-15, 7-11 GPAC) will travel to Sioux Center, Iowa, to face Dordt University (13-12, 8-9 GPAC) in a Great Plains Athletic Conference game Saturday, Feb. 14. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:45 p.m.
