Warriors Fall in Season Opener to Grand View

FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University’s men’s basketball team opened their season at home on Saturday versus Grand View University. The Warriors competed all night in the back and forth game, but ultimately fell to the Vikings 83-77.
The game was a tale of two halves for the Warriors offense, they struggled mightily from the field in the first half. It would take the Warriors three minutes and fifty-three seconds to score their first points of the game and they would go on to shoot 27.3 percent from the field (9-for-33) and 14.3 percent from behind the arc (1-for-7) in the first half.
“We were a little out sync tonight with our offensive continuity,” said Midland head coach Oliver Drake. “We have had some inconsistency with our lineups in practice and it showed.”
The Vikings were not much better, shooting 37.1 percent from the field (13-for-35) and 28.6 percent from behind the arc (6-for-21) in the half. A buzzer-beater 3-point shot would give the Vikings a one-point lead at halftime.
The Warriors would flip the offensive switch in the second half and made 17 of their 33 shot attempts and were nearly flawless from the free-throw line (7-for-8). Senior guard Laurence Merritt would score 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half before having to leave the game with an injury at the two-minute mark.
The Vikings would also find their shooting touch, shooting 51.4 percent from the field (18-for-35) and 46.2 percent from the arc (6-for-13).
The Warriors held the lead early on in the second half and the two teams traded baskets for most of the opening minutes of the half before a Merritt lay-up would tie the game at 50 each with 14:14 remaining in the game.
The Vikings would then take a lead that they would never relinquish and were fueled by a stretch where junior guard Ryan Miller connected on three consecutive 3-points shots giving the Vikings an eight-point lead.
The Warriors would not go down easy as they battled back to cut the lead to four points with two minutes to go, but a Vikings’ layup and steal on the ensuing Warriors possession would secure them the victory.
“Although we didn’t get the result, we thought we had some really good spurts,” Drake said. “We love this group of guys and we look forward to getting back to work next week.”
The Warriors are set to play Concordia University on the road on November 10. The GPAC matchup will be in Seward, Nebraska, and is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.