Broncos Comeback From 18 Down to Upset No. 19 Morniingside in Wild Finish
Sioux City, IA – The Hastings College men’s basketball team was able to wipe out an 18-point second half deficit to defeat No. 19 Morningside 85-83 on Saturday afternoon inside the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center.
Sioux City, IA – The Hastings College men's basketball team was able to wipe out an 18-point second half deficit to defeat No. 19 Morningside 85-83 on Saturday afternoon inside the Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center.
The Broncos did make a little run at the end of the first half to only trail 33-28 at halftime but the Mustangs opened the second half on a 14-1 run to go up 47-29 with 16:31 to go in the game as Hastings took a full timeout.
The Broncos quickly got a three from Quinn Johnson, a free throw from Reggie Thomas and another three from Johnson to make it 47-36 with 15:28 left in regulation.
From here the lead would hover in the double digits until Tyrique McMurrin drained a three with 9:27 to go to make it 61-54 and from here it was game on. After Morningside pushed the lead back to nine, Thomas would get a layup to go and following a free throw, Thomas buried a three as HC now trailed 64-59 with 7:16 to go.
The Mustangs got two free throws from Aidan Vanderloo but Thomas answered once again with a three plus he got fouled and went on to make the unconventional 4-point play to make it 66-63 with 6:36 to go. The Mustangs ended up back at the line to go back up five but Danilo Matovic worked free on the baseline for the layup to make it a 3-point game again. Once again it was two more free throws for MU but Thomas knocked down a jumper to stay within striking distance.
This time the Mustangs ended up with an empty possession and it was Ben Boudreau with a very difficult reverse layup to make it 70-69 with 4:25 to go. Ely Doble quickly answered for Morningside with a layup but Thomas was determined as he drained another three to tie the game 72-72 with 3:55 remaining.
After Morningside made just one of two free throws, Thomas broke free getting another layup go to give Hastings the lead with 3:27 left to play. Another trip to the line for Morningside ended with just one made free throw as HC went to the low block to Matovic for the layup and the 76-74 lead. The Mustangs went back to Dobly as he got the layup plus the harm to put MU back up 77-76 but the answer was in Thomas' hands as he drained another three to go up 79-77 with 2:04 to go.
The Mustangs would tie it up with a Doble layup and would get the ball back following a missed three by Thomas. After the Mustangs called a timeout, Brendan Buckley tossed the ball in with a slow enough bounce that Grady Corrigan dove on the floor stealing the ball away to give Hastings another opportunity to take the lead.
With :56 to go, Boudreau was left alone on the wing as he put up his three that found nothing but nylon as HC now led 82-79. The teams would trade free throws and Morningside would get a layup from Joey Skoff to make it 84-83 with :12 to go and then things got a bit more interesting. On the ensuing inbound, the Mustangs got called for a flagrant foul allowing McMurrin to go to the line while the Broncos would get the ball back. Unfortunately, McMurrin missed both free throws as HC still led by one. On the ensuing inbound, HC threw it long to Thomas as he ran the clock down to :03 before getting the ball to Nolan Sughroue as he was fouled. Sughroue made the first but missed the second as Morningside's Skoff attempted a three that missed everything as Hastings came away with the huge 85-83 upset victory.
Thomas led the way with a double-double with a game high 28 points and 11 rebounds. He was 10-for-19 from the floor and 4-for-7 from behind the arc. After starting the game 2-for-9 in the first half, Thomas went 8-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-5 from downtown in the second half scoring 24 of his points.
Yohan-Steve Yebga kept the Broncos in the game in the first half scoring a career high 13 points as he was 6-for-7 from the field. Corrigan finished with 11 points while McMurrin and Boudreau each finished with 10 points.
Hastings finished the game shooting 58.2 percent (32-for-55) from the floor while the Mustangs shot 55 percent (26-for-47). HC was also 12-for-23 from downtown while Morningside was 6-for-17. Bench points played a major factor in this one as the Broncos outscored the Mustangs 29-to-6.
With the win Hastings improves to 17-7 (12-4) on the year and will be back in action Wednesday Feb. 14 as Mount Marty comes to town with tipoff set for 7:45 pm inside Lynn Farrell Arena. Hastings is again tied for first in the GPAC but this time with just Northwestern as Concordia and Dakota Wesleyan play in a big game tomorrow in Mitchell, SD.
