RV Mustangs hold off Warriors with fiery second half

SIOUX CITY, Iowa — When the Morningside men's basketball team went into the locker room at halftime Saturday, it knew it needed a better second half to avoid a season sweep by Midland.

The RV Mustangs made 21 of 24 second-half shots to avenge their only Great Plains Athletic Conference loss with a 104-92 win over Midland.

Morningside connected on its first six shots, then later on, it put the game away with a blistering stretch in the second half, knocking down 12 consecutive field goals over a span of just under seven minutes.

During that stretch, Morningside showed patience offensively, shared the ball, and punished defensive breakdowns to build its largest lead of the night.

"I thought that was about as efficient as we've ever been, and we needed every single one of those buckets," head coach Trent Miller said. "We needed to match them offensively, and part of that was because of the quality of shots we took in the second half. We played aggressive as opposed to the first half, where I thought we were hesitant."

Morningside's offensive efficiency was driven by a balanced attack and elite shooting across the lineup. Alex Wilcoxson led all scorers with 29 points, doing his damage from everywhere on the floor. The junior guard shot 8-of-12 overall, knocked down five 3-pointers, and added eight rebounds and four assists while playing all 40 minutes.

Wilcoxson was especially sharp after halftime, converting all six of his second-half field-goal attempts.

"We needed to take control on our floor, and take pride in it," Wilcoxson said. " We weren't going to let a second loss fly."

Caleb Dreckman provided a steady presence inside and out, finishing with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting while adding eight rebounds and five assists. Dreckman also went a perfect 3-for-3 at the free-throw line and consistently facilitated offense when Midland applied pressure.

Daniel Brocaille was efficient in his 18-point performance, missing just two shots from the field and contributing three assists. Fitzy Grant gave Morningside a lift off the bench with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, accounting for a large share of the Mustangs' 20 bench points.

The Mustangs shot 65 percent from the floor. Morningside also went 18-of-20 at the free-throw line and finished with 18 assists on 37 made field goals.

Morningside continues its GPAC trek with a visit by Dordt at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday in Allee Gym.