Men's Basketball Ends Season With GPAC Quarterfinal Loss at Morningside
(Sioux City, IA) – Taking on #1-seed Morningside on Wednesday night, #8-seed Hastings held a lead for most of the first 11 minutes of the game, but the Mustangs took over from there in the 101-76 defeat.
(Sioux City, IA) – Taking on #1-seed Morningside on Wednesday night, #8-seed Hastings held a lead for most of the first 11 minutes of the game, but the Mustangs took over from there in the 101-76 defeat.
Hastings started strong, going up 16-8 in the first seven minutes by getting two three-pointers by sophomore Micah Hinrichs and four points from senior DaRon Hall. After Morningside got within two at 16-14, Hall finished an and-one and following a stop, knocked down a jumper to go up 21-14 at the 10:48 mark.
Leading 23-19 with 9:40 to go in the first half, the Mustangs went on a 6-0 run to go up two. Senior Myles Simon tied it momentarily and with Hastings down five, Hinrichs hit his third three of the half. Morningside ended the half on a 13-0 run in the final four minutes to gain control.
Morningside outscored the Broncos 16-5 in the first five minutes of the second half scoring on seven of their first eight possessions. Sophomore Maverick Binder scored seven straight points for Hastings, getting within 21, but the Broncos could not get closer. The Mustangs took a 28-point lead halfway through the second half.
Senior Christian Pujals and junior Ben Boudreau made back-to-back threes and after a Morningside layup, Boudreau converted a three-point play to get within 21. Boudreau and Hinrichs would hit threes shortly after, but the lead grew to 25 with 3:23 left. Morningside would go on to win, 101-76.
For the game, Morningside shot 60 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. Hastings shot 47 percent from the field and 52 percent from three. Morningside held a 40-24 advantage on the glass and outscored 56-28 in points in the paint.
Boudreau ended with 19 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Hinrichs contributed 19 points as well, adding three rebounds. Hall finished with 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Binder was also in double-figures with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The loss ends Hastings' season with an 8-21 overall record and 7-13 conference record, as they start preparations for next season.
