Furious rally falls just short in 2021-22 River City Rivalry #1

SIOUX CITY, IOWA – A matter of inches. 

That can be the determination of outcomes for many athletic competitions. An 88-85 Briar Cliff University victory over No. 18-ranked Morningside University Wednesday, Dec. 8, had a similar theme.

Head coach Trent Miller's Mustangs, looking to remain the lone unbeaten on the Great Plains Athletic Conference standings, worked a magical 16-0 run in the second half to come up off the mat after a sizzling Chargers' three-point shooting display put them in a 60-41 hole with 12:39 left at BCU's Newman Flanagan Center. Closing to within two at 73-71 with 2:58 left, the visitors scrambled for a rebound on the ensuing home team possession but were out of reach, leaving the Chargers' Jaden Kleinhesselink open to bank in a big three-point bucket to push the lead back out to five. Morningside, dipping to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the league, bounced back again, cutting the deficit to three with 23 seconds left (84-81) after trailing by seven in the final minute. Similarly, the Mustangs had a shot at a steal in the backcourt, but the ball wafted away into a tie-up, keeping the possession with Briar Cliff, where they managed to four successive free throws to ice the decision.

Four players posted double-digit scoring to mark a 16^th straight outing of three-or-more for Miller's program. No star shone as bright as sophomore guard Joey Skoff (Bellevue, Neb.) willed Mside back with 25 points by hitting 11-of-16 field goal attempts and three-of-five three-pointers. Senior forward Zach Imig (Gretna, Neb.) added 18 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and an assist; sophomore guard Aidan Vanderloo (Sioux City, Iowa) finished with 16 points, two steals, and an assist; and senior center Trey Brown (Gretna, Neb.) rolled up his 39^th successive double-figure scoring game with 10 points.

Morningside, holding a half-game league advantage over BCU due to one more win, wraps up its pre-Christmas conference campaign Saturday, Dec. 11, at Northwestern College. Tip-off time is 3:45 p.m. at NWC's Bultman Center in Orange City.

NOTES: Brown became the 12^th Morningside University student-athlete to reach the 1,400 career-point mark during the evening… Imig closed to within eight points of becoming the eighth player to total 1600-or-more points, moving to 1592.