Double-Overtime Drama: Warriors Edge Mount Marty on the Road

YANKTON, S.D. — Midland University traveled to Yankton, South Dakota, on Wednesday night for a Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) matchup against Mount Marty University. It took a pair of overtime periods to decide the contest, but the Warriors emerged victorious in a thrilling 99-93 battle against the Lancers.

Rece Kissinger opened the scoring at the free-throw line, followed by Ryan Larsen hitting a three-pointer to spark Midland's momentum. The Lancers quickly answered with a three-pointer of their own, setting the tone for a back-and-forth game. Noah Sandbothe and Trey McCain combined for a 6-0 run, giving the Warriors a 15-10 lead. However, Mount Marty responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game at 15-15. Larsen then ignited an 11-2 surge, pushing Midland's lead to 26-18. The Lancers broke their scoring drought with an 8-3 run to narrow the gap to two points late in the half. Both teams traded baskets before Larsen sank a jumper in the final seconds to give Midland a 35-33 lead at halftime.

After the break, Mount Marty came out firing with a 7-0 run. Rozelle III and Kissinger responded with a 5-0 run to break Midland's scoring drought, but the Lancers answered with a commanding 16-2 stretch to extend their lead to 56-41. Larsen reignited the Warriors' offense with a 9-2 run to close the gap. Mount Marty countered with back-to-back three-pointers, but Jake Orr responded with a 7-2 run for Midland, prompting a timeout. Following the break, Larsen kept the Warriors in the game with an 8-4 run, forcing Mount Marty to call another timeout. With less than a minute to play, Larsen hit a critical three-pointer to cut the deficit to three. After a brief timeout and exchanges at the free-throw line, Orr nailed a game-tying three-pointer in the final seconds, sending the contest into overtime at 73-73.

In the first overtime, Jeff Rozelle III and Butch Lordeus opened with a 5-0 run to put the Warriors ahead. Mount Marty responded with a three-pointer, but Larsen countered with one of his own. Orr added two free throws to cap a 5-3 stretch. The Lancers tied the game again with a late three-pointer. McCain converted his free-throw opportunities, but Mount Marty hit another triple to force a second overtime at 85-85.

In the second overtime, McCain and Orr combined for a 10-3 run, prompting Mount Marty to call a timeout. After the break, Orr added a free throw, but the Lancers responded with a three-pointer to keep it close. Orr ultimately sealed the victory for the Warriors with clutch free throws in the final moments, as Midland secured a hard-fought 99-93 win.

Midland shot 30-of-54 (55.6%) for the game, while Mount Marty finished 35-of-76 (46.1%).

Larsen led the Warriors with 30 points, followed by Orr, who recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. McCain added 17 points, and Rozelle III contributed 15.

"It was a resilient win on the road! It wasn't our best execution on either end of the floor, but we hung around in the second half and found a way to get it done. A ton of credit to Mount Marty. They run good actions and make things tough. They're a challenging matchup" commented head coach Tyler Erwin.

"I'm really proud of our guys. We were tremendous in the last five minutes of regulation. Butch had great and huge minutes in his first game. Jack Cooper gave us some really good minutes in the second half and Jake Orr just makes winning plays. He had huge rebounds late in the game."

Midland (10-11, 5-8 GPAC) will travel to Sioux City, Iowa, to face Briar Cliff University (11-9, 5-4 GPAC) in another conference matchup on Saturday, January 25. Tip-off is set for 3:45 p.m. at the Newman Flanagan Center.