|
Hamilton And Rudeen Named To Academic All-District Team
Mustangs Top Midland To Snap Three-Game Skid
Mustangs Announce Recruit
Hamilton Is GPAC Player Of The Week
Borchers Named GPAC Player Of The Week
Mustangs Ranked 23rd In NAIA Pre-Season Poll
Mustangs Picked Third In GPAC Pre-Season Poll
 |
 |
Danny Rudeen |
Kevin Zoz |
Morningside pulled away over the last nine minutes of the game en route to an 81-59 GPAC men’s basketball triumph against Dakota Wesleyan University on Wednesday in Mitchell, S.D.
The Mustangs outscored the Tigers 26-10 down the stretch to break open a tight contest where the guests led by six points, 55-49, with 9:09 left to play.
The Morningside triumph avenged a 78-72 home court loss it had suffered against the same Dakota Wesleyan team earlier in the season on Dec. 7.
The Mustangs climbed to 14-11 overall and 9-7 in the GPAC.
Danny Rudeen led the Mustangs with 21 points and was a perfect eight-for-eight from the free-throw line. Kevin Zoz also had a big night with 20 points, much of it from long range behind a four-for-eight shooting display from the 3-point arc.
Bryan Borchers drilled five of six floor shots and was four-for-four from the foul line en route to 14 points. Storm Throne also had 14 points for his team-high 11th double figure scoring effort off the bench this season. Throne drilled six of eight field goal attempts to help the Mustangs finish the night with a team shooting figure of 54.0 percent from the field.
Borchers added nine rebounds to finish one carom shy of a double-double and led the Mustangs on the boards for the fifth game in a row and the sixth time in the last seven games. However, it wasn’t enough to prevent a 31-28 Tiger rebounding advantage.
Morningside’s Trent Miller led all performers with a season’s high nine assists.
The Mustangs will travel to Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday to face Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Box
 |
 |
Garth Hamilton |
Danny Rudeen |
Morningside College’s Garth Hamilton and Danny Rudeenhave been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District 5 College Division Men’s Basketball Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
They will be placed on the national ballot for the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Teams.
Hamilton, a 6-7 senior center from Lincoln, Neb., has a 3.69 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with a major in psychology counseling. He is averaging 12.2 points per game and is the Mustangs’ leading rebounder with a norm of 7.0 caroms per game.
Rudeen, a 6-3 sophomore guard from Sioux City, has a 3.85 cumulative GPA with a major in computer science. He is the Mustangs’ leading scorer with an average of 15.1 points per game to compliment an average of 4.4 rebounds per game.
Athletes must be of at least sophomore academic status, be a starter or significant reserve, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher to be eligible for Capital One Academic honors.
|
 |
Kevin Zoz |
Bryan Borchers |
Morningside’s men’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-60 home court triumph against Midland University on Saturday to tie the Warriors for fourth place in the GPAC standings.
Both teams had 8-7 league marks following Saturday’s contest. The Mustangs improved their overall record to 13-11.
Midland, which defeated the Mustangs 66-59 in Fremont, Neb., earlier this season, took a 35-29 lead into the intermission before the Morningside defense stepped up in the second half. The Mustangs allowed only 25 points over the final 20 minutes and pressured Midland into a 36.4 percent second half shooting performance.
Kevin Zoz scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Mustangs, while post players Storm Throne and Garth Hamilton added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Bryan Borchers just missed double figures with nine tallies, followed by Danny Rudeen and Trent Miller, each with eight.
Borchers grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Mustangs to a 32-28 advantage on the boards. Borchers led the Mustangs in rebounding for the fourth game in a row and for the fifth time in the last six games.
Rudeen dealt a game-high five assists to go along with four steals, while Miller led all performers with a career-high six steals.
Morningside will travel to Mitchell, S.D., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, for an 8 p.m. contest against Dakota Wesleyan University.
Box
Alex Kurtenbach, a 6-5 forward from Columbus, Neb., will enroll at Morningside College next fall and compete for the Mustangs’ men’s basketball team announced Morningside head coach Jim Sykes.
Kurtenbach is a senior at Columbus High School, where he is averaging 10.7 points and a team-high 5.3 rebounds per game this season. He leads the team with 24 assists and 11 blocked shots and ranks second on the team with 24 steals. Kurtenbach has made 61 of 127 field goal attempts to lead the team in field goal accuracy at 48.0 percent.
He earned honorable mention Class A all-state honors from the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star in addition to first-team All-Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference honors as a junior. Kurtenbach led Columbus in scoring and rebounding last season with averages of 9.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. He also led the team in field goal accuracy with 87 field goals in 184 attempts for 47.3 percent. Kurtenbach made 64 of 92 free throw attempts for 69.6 percent and ranked third on the team with 20 assists and third with 22 steals.
Kurtenbach will join a Morningside program that has made three NAIA Division II National Tournament appearances in the last six years.
 Garth Hamilton, a 6-7 senior center from Lincoln, Neb., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.
Hamilton averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game and made 14 of 26 field goal attempts for 53.8 percent and 15 of 18 free throw attempts for 83.3 percent in the Mustangs’ two contests last week.
He scored a career-high 27 points to go along with five rebounds to lead Morningside in both categories in a 77-71 victory against Concordia University last Saturday in Seward, Neb. Hamilton posted his second double-double of the season earlier in the week when he had 16 points and a season’s high 12 rebounds and five assists in a 71-69 loss against Grand View University.
Hamilton is the Mustangs’ second leading scorer and top rebounder with averages of 13.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
Morningside will take a 6-3 record, including a 3-0 record in the GPAC, into a Wednesday home conference game against Dakota Wesleyan University.
 Bryan Borchers, a 6-5 senior forward from Le Mars, Iowa, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after he helped lead the Mustangs to victories against Wayne State College and Hastings College.
Borchers averaged 17 points and six rebounds per game and drilled 11 of 17 field goal attempts for 64.7 percent and converted 12 of 13 free throw attempts for 92.3 percent in the two triumphs.
He scored 18 points behind a perfect shooting night with six-for-six showings from the field and the foul line in a 75-55 victory at NCAA Division II Wayne State on Nov. 15. He also had six rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots in the contest. Borchers went for 16 points and six rebounds when the Mustangs defeated Hastings 79-72 in last Saturday’s GPAC opener.
The Mustangs have a 4-2 record and are ranked No. 23 in the nation in the NAIA Division II Pre-Season Poll.
 Morningside is ranked No. 23 in the nation in the NAIA Division II Pre-Season Men’s Basketball Poll released on Oct. 24.
The Mustangs return nine lettermen, including all five starters, from a team that came on strong at the end of the 2010-11 campaign with seven wins in the final 10 games to finish with a record of 15-17.
Morningside is one of three teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) in the NAIA Pre-Season Top 25. Defending league champion Northwestern College is ranked seventh and Dordt College is ranked 16th.
Morningside will open the 2011-12 season at the York College Classic in York, Neb., with games against York College on Nov. 4 and Kansas Wesleyan University on Nov. 5.
Click here for the 2011-12 NAIA II Pre-Season Top 25.
 Morningside is picked for a third place finish in the GPAC Men’s Basketball Coaches Pre-Season Poll.
The Mustangs return nine lettermen and all five starters from a team that went 7-3 over the final 10 games of the 2010-11 season en route to a 15-17 finish.
Morningside will open the 2011-12 campaign on Friday, Nov. 4, with a 7 p.m. game against York College at the York Classic in York, Neb.
Click here for the complete 2011-12 GPAC Men’s Basketball Coaches Pre-Season Poll.
|
