Men's Basketball Defeats Stars Behind Hall's 24 Points
(Seward, NE) – Looking to avenge last week's 10-point loss to Oklahoma City, Hastings was the team that took control in the first half, going up 12 at the end of the first half. Senior DaRon Hall then exploded for 17 of his 24 points in the second half to give the Broncos their first win, 80-65. The performance from Hall landed him on the All-Cattle Classic team.
(Seward, NE) – Looking to avenge last week's 10-point loss to Oklahoma City, Hastings was the team that took control in the first half, going up 12 at the end of the first half. Senior DaRon Hall then exploded for 17 of his 24 points in the second half to give the Broncos their first win, 80-65. The performance from Hall landed him on the All-Cattle Classic team.
Oklahoma City scored the first five points of the game and it was Hall that started the scoring with a three-pointer and a jumper. After hitting the jumper, he forced a steal and junior Ben Boudreau knocked down, making it a 10-7 Oklahoma City lead. With 13:08 left, Hall put the Broncos ahead. Tied at 11, Hastings went on a 10-0 run over the next five minutes, getting four points from sophomore Micah Hinrichs and a three-point play from Boudreau in the stretch to go up 21-11 with 7:53 left in the half.
With Hastings still up 10 with five minutes left, sophomore Maverick Binder's triple gave Hastings their largest lead of the half at 13. The Stars rattled off that six straight points to get within seven, but Hastings closed the half on a 9-4 run in the final three minutes, getting layups from senior Myles Simon and freshman Riley Bombeck, then five points in the final minute from Boudreau, who had 14 points in the first half, to go up 37-25 at the break. As a team, the Broncos shot 50 percent from the field and was a plus-six in the turnover battle.
Hastings pulled ahead to 40-26 on a jumper from Hinrichs three minutes into the half, but the Stars kept hanging around, getting the deficit back to 10 shortly after. Hall, who had 17 points in the second half, sank a jumper, then a couple of layups from Hinrichs put the Broncos up 46-32. Leading 50-36, Hall completed a three-point play and Hinrichs drilled a triple to go up 18 with 10:51 left.
Oklahoma City clawed back to within 11 at the seven-minute mark, then it was Hall again who had the answer, followed by a stop and jumper from Boudreau. Hastings forced another miss and Hall capped the 6-0 run to put the Broncos up 17 with 5:48 left. Boudreau later added to the lead, putting them up 71-52 with four minutes left. The Stars were able to get the lead down to 14 with a minute left, but Hastings iced the game with free throws, winning 80-65.
For the game, Hastings shot 52 percent from the field and made 18-22 free throws, including 16-19 in the second half. Conversely, Oklahoma City was held to shooting 38 percent and Hastings outscored the Stars 18-8 in points off turnovers.
Hall finished with 24 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Boudreau also surpassed the 20-point mark with 22. Hinrichs came off the bench to score 15 points and secure five rebounds in 23 minutes. Binder led the team with nine rebounds to go along with seven points. Simon did a bit of everything, getting a game-high four steals, and chipping in four points, four rebounds, and two assists.
Up next, Hastings will begin their conference season on Saturday, Nov. 15 at home against Dakota Wesleyan at 3:45pm.
