December 13, 2023

FREMONT, Neb. – Midland (Neb.) used a late first half scoring run to ballon their lead to 12 points and held off Dakota State's (S.D.) furious late comeback Wednesday evening, earning a 90-84 high scoring men's basketball affair at Wikert Event Center.  The Trojans trailed by 11 points with a minute to go in the game and trimmed the Warriors' lead to four points but fell short.

Dakota State dipped their overall record to 10-5.  Midland improved to 5-7 overall record.

The Trojans conclude their 2023 calendar year at home Saturday evening, hosting another opponent from the Great Plains Athletic Conference Hastings (Neb.).  Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.

Midland (Neb.) 90, Dakota State (S.D.) 84 – FINAL

Midland kicked off the game with a 10-4 lead after a basket by Jake Orr with fifteen minutes and twenty-six seconds on the clock.

Dakota State answered with an 11-2 scoring run to overtake a 15-12 lead after a layup by Mison Coilton with 12:17 to go in the first half.

Both teams went through a see-saw battle for the rest of the first half before the Warriors made a late run.  A dunk by DSU's Emmanuel Akpan knotted the game at 36-36 with 3:14 left in the first half.

The Warriors went on a 12-0 first half closing run in the final 2:57 of the first half.  Derek Merwick scored the final four points as Midland extended their lead to 48-36 by halftime.

MU shot a sizzling 62.1 percent from the field (18-of-29 field goals) in the first twenty minutes of the game.  DSU was held to 40 percent (14-of-35 field goals).

Dakota State fueled a 14-1 opening run in the second half, regaining their lead.  Brayden Pankonen drained a 3-pointer (assisted by Coilton) as the Trojans knotted the game at 49-49 with 16:28 remaining.

Coilton hit a free-throw with 15:41 to go as DSU regained their lead at 50-49.

Dakota State and Midland traded leads for the next five minutes of the game before the Warriors held on to the lead for the remaining of the game.

With MU leading 73-69, the Warriors went on a 6-0 run to regain their double-digit lead at 79-69 after Orr's layup with 3:39 remaining.

After Midland's lead grew to 86-75, Dakota State hit back-to-back 3-pointers from Uzo Dibiamaka and Josh Lewis to reduce their deficit to 86-81 with less than 35 seconds to go in the game.

Colton Uhing hit a pair of free-throws to put Midland up 88-81 with less than 30 seconds to go.  DSU answered with a 3-pointer from Kenny Haynes (assisted by Japjit Gill), trailing 88-84 with 21 seconds remaining.

Rece Kissinger added a pair of free-throws for Midland as they went up 90-84.  The Trojans were unable to convert their scoring chance on the next possession, falling short to the Warriors.

Dakota State outscored Midland 48-42 in the final twenty minutes.  MU shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26 field goals) in the second half compared to the Trojans 46.9 percent (15-of-32 field goals).

Five Trojans players hit double digit, led by Pankonen and Haynes with 16 points each.  Haynes shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from the 3-point arc.  Pankonen had three rebounds, two assists, and stole the ball twice.

Coilton added 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists for DSU.  Dibiamaka had 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.  Akpan scored 10 points and collected five rebounds.  Gill tallied nine points, four rebounds, and four assists.

Orr paced the Warriors with 17 points on his 5-of-8 field goals and converted 7-of-10 free-throws.  Jake Rueschhoff added 16 points and three steals.  Merwick had 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. 

Rece Kissinger scored 19 points off the bench for Midland.  He was 7-of-12 from the field.  Uhing added eight points and contributed six assists.  Jack Cooper had seven points. 

Midland shot 58.2 percent overall from the field (32-of-55 field goals) compared to Dakota State 43.3 percent (29-of-67 field goals).  The Trojans drained 14 3-pointers in 34 attempts, while the Warriors hit 7-of-14 3-pointers.

MU converted 19-of-29 free-throws to DSU 12-of-15 free-throws. 

Dakota State outrebounded Midland 38-34 in the game.  The Trojans outscored the Warriors 13-8 in second chance points.