Morningside Claims GPAC Men's Basketball Tournament Title - Mar 7, 2014

Steve O'Neill (6'0''-PG) 15-foot jumper from the left wing was the game-winner and the tournament-winner as the Morningside Mustangs defeated Dordt College, 87-85, in the final of the Great Plains Athletic Conference basketball tourney.

O'Neill took a pass from teammate Danny Rudeen (6'3''-G) before faking right and going left, unleashing the dagger that sank the Defenders' chances to claim both the regular season and postseason tournament titles.

Dordt did have a look at the buzzer, but a lob to Kyle Lindbergh (6'7''-F) was deflected by Andrew Christen (6'4''-F), sealing the third triumph this year Morningside has earned over Dordt.

"I would like to see Morningside again," said Dordt Coach Ross Douma , reflecting on the opponent that dealt his team three of its four setbacks this season. "Because if we play again, that would likely mean we're both in the Final Four."

Douma predicted the two GPAC teams would be seeded in different brackets as part of the 32-team tournament that opens play one week from today. Both teams were guaranteed berths in the NAIA Division II National Championship tourney prior to Tuesday's title tilt.

Winning the tournament, though, sent the seniors of Coach Jim Sykes out as winners, an accomplishment rarely seen by foes playing in the loud and cozy confines of De Witt Gymnasium where a capacity crowd of 1,395 saw this one unfold.

"What a great way for our seniors to end their careers in conference play," said Sykes, who piloted the Mustangs to this tournament title in 2006, a season that ended with the first of Morningside's three, now four, national tournament appearances. "We've come through some adversity and did so again tonight."

The Mustangs (25-8, 16-4), who had lost two players to injury earlier this season, lost starter Ryan Tegtmeier (6'0''-PG) to an ankle injury with 8:12 left in the first half and Dordt holding a five-point cushion. At the time, Tegtmeier had hit both three-pointer attempts and was 3-for-4 on the night.

"Ryan landed on someone's foot. We're not sure about the extent of it yet," Sykes said of his freshman guard.

Into the fray stepped reserves like Bryce Koch (C), Shane Hennen, Keithan Karn (6'3''-G), Andrew Christen and James Wright (6'4''-F). Koch tallied four points and four rebounds in the first half alone, while Hennen drained a baseline three to end the first half with the Mustangs still very much alive, albeit down 53-48.

It was a first half that saw Dordt use a 20-5 spurt to take a 52-39 lead with three minutes left in the half. Dordt penetrated often, getting 16 and 14 points in the opening 20 minutes for Lindbergh and Dalton Franken. The Defenders made 25 trips to the free throw line, compared to six for the visitors in the opening half.

"We did a good job of attacking and getting to the line in the first half and the script kind of got flipped in the second half," Douma said.

Morningside's switch to a 2-3 zone midway through the second half was aimed at preventing Dordt penetration. It did seem to slow the home team's mode of attack.

"I don't want to call it a soft 2-3 zone, but it was one where we really focused on keeping them in front of us," Sykes said.

Morningside kept within striking distance until an O'Neill jumper just inside the three-point arc tied the game at 80-all with 4:30 remaining. Rudeen added a free throw and Kyle Nikkel, Morningside's post, scored the last of his team-high 20 points for an 83-80 cushion.

A pair of Tyler Wolterstorff's free throws closed the gap to 82-80 with one minute left.

That's when O'Neill showed a clutch streak, chasing down an offensive rebound late in the shot clock, giving his team the chance to melt away more time. He then hit a layup just before the shot clock expired for an 85-82 lead with 47 seconds left.

Dordt freshman Bryan Sumner (6'2''-G) saved his only three of the night for this spot, netting a trey from the right wing to tie the game with 33 ticks remaining, setting up O'Neill's heroics.

"We had an isolation play drawn up for Danny, but I told him to trust his teammates and he did," said O'Neill, a junior from Council Bluffs, Iowa. "He drew some help from the defense and gave it to me on the left side. I'm left-handed, so I went that way with it."

Rudeen, the focus of many opposing defensive schemes, finished with 11 points on six field goal attempts. Tanner Miller added 19, while O'Neill had 15 and a team-high five assists.

"To win the tournament is unbelievable, especially for our seniors who have put in so much over the past four years," O'Neill said.

The national tourney bid is Morningside's fourth overall and the first since 2009. Dordt, winners of the GPAC regular season with a 17-3 loop ledger, will also make its fourth national tournament appearance, the last coming one year ago.

The Defenders, now 28-4, were paced in the league tournament title contest by senior Lindbergh's 26 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Franken had 18, while Wolterstorff and sophomore Nathan Rindels added 17 and 16, respectively. Both Lindbergh and Rindels tallied five assists.

Courtesy of GPAC

GPAC Tournament Final: Morningside - Dordt 87-85
GPAC Tournament Semifinals:
Morningside - Dakota Wesleyan 108-106 OT
Dordt - Hastings 83-67

All-GPAC 1st Team 2014

Gullie

Imig

Johnson

Katje

Leeper