Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The women fought off a late charge and the men recovered from a collapse at the end of regulation to sweep Baker on Thursday. In the women's game,
Kelsey Balcom recorded a double-double to lead the Pioneers to 73-70 victory. MNU quickly built a 10-point lead and took a 14-point lead into halftime. Baker came out strong in the second half and whittled the deficit down to 3 after 8 minutes. The Pioneers extended the lead back to 8, but back-to-back threes got the Wildcats within 2. A 10-2 MNU run got the lead back to 9 with 5 minutes left, but Baker again fought back to trail 73-70 with 1 minute remaining. The Wildcats had plenty of opportunities to tie the game down the stretch but missed three 3-point shots in a row and MNU escaped with the 73-70 victory.
Kelsey Balcom had a season-high 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Daria Sprew had 12 points.
Kendra Flemming and
Megan Balcom each had 10 points off the bench. And
Rachel Boan had 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Pioneers are tied for 1st in the HAAC at 5-1 (15-2 overall). The next game is Saturday at Missouri Valley (4-13, 1-4) at 2:00.
In the men's game,
Conner Langrehr shook off a 1-11 shooting performance in the previous game to spark the Pioneers to an early lead. All 5 Pioneer starters reached double figures as MNU won 92-87 in overtime.
MNU jumped out to a 9-2 lead as Langrehr scored 7 points in the opening 2 minutes. He continued the hot start and had 15 points after 10 minutes and MNU led 25-20. Baker survived the opening barrage and led by 3 at halftime, but the Pioneers quickly built a 5-point lead early in the second half and controlled the game until the final minute. MNU led by 9 with 2:13 remaining but scored just one more point in regulation. Baker hit 4 free throws and a 3 as the Pioneers missed 5-6 free throws. With 5 seconds left Baker trailed by 3. The Wildcats rushed it up the court and Julian Mills drained a running contested deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Pioneers built a 3-point lead after 2 minutes and never relinquished it.
Rustin Dowd nailed a back-breaking 3-pointer with 2 minutes remaining, and the Pioneers held on for a 92-87 victory.
Langrehr was 10-15 from the field for 22 points.
Rustin Dowd hit 4 threes en route to 19 points.
Luke Thomas had 17 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.
Jacob French had 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists.
David Clark had 10 points. And
Brandon Newton had 7 points and 7 rebounds off the bench.
The Pioneers are in a 3-way tie atop the HAAC at 5-1 (13-5 overall). The next game is Saturday at Missouri Valley (6-11, 1-4) at 4:00.
