Box Score Rustin Dowd's 3-pointer in the final seconds was the difference in MNU's 82-79 victory at Graceland on Saturday. The Yellowjackets started the game on a 6-0 run before the Pioneers answered with a 5-0 run to get within 1 early on. But Graceland had another 7-0 burst and maintained a 3-possession lead for the first 10 minutes. MNU went on 14-4 run to take the lead and were able to extend it to an 11-point lead at halftime.
MNU led by as many as 13 in the second half before the Yellowjackets began to chip away. Graceland finally tied the game with 6 minutes left and the game remained tight into the final minute.
Conner Langrehr put MNU up by 2 with 17 seconds left, but Graceland tied it right away with 12 seconds left, setting it up for Dowd. With 5 seconds remaining,
Nick Syrie found Dowd near the top of the key. The junior All-American paused then nailed a deep 3 over the defender to give MNU the lead with 1.2 seconds left. Graceland's desperation shot went begging and the Pioneers escaped with the victory.
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Dowd finished with 30 points on 9-16 shooting.
Luke Thomas (15),
Conner Langrehr (13), and
Nick Syrie (11) also reached double figures. And
Jacob French added 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
The Pioneers are 7-5 (2-0 HAAC). The next game is Saturday at Central Methodist (5-5, 1-1) at 4:00.
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