Midland takes GPAC Tournament title - Mar 4, 2015

No. 14 Midland University took down its second straight top-five ranked opponent on Tuesday night en route to the GPAC Postseason Championship with a 89-67 victory at No. 5 Morningside College. The postseason crown is the Warriors' first since winning the title at the end of the 1999-2000 season.
Midland also went on the road during the tournament to knock off No. 3 Dakota Wesleyan in the semifinals to earn a shot at the title. The Warriors took two of three games from both Morningside and DWU this season.
"What a fun night for our team this was," said head coach Todd Eisner . "We had a couple guys produce tremendous individual offensive performances, and overall I I thought we played well defensively. We were able to frustrate our opponent for the second straight game with our defensive approach and effort."
Midland never trailed in the championship game, and raced out to a 12-0 advantage on five early points by Marcus Franklin (6'2''-G). The senior was then able to give the Warriors their biggest lead of the first half, 23-8, on a three-pointer at the 10:56 mark. DJ Vaughn connected from downtown with 5:27 left in the half to stretch the Midland lead to 36-24 before Morningside was finally able to put together a run.
The Mustangs chipped away at their deficit by going on a 13-4 stretch to make it a 40-37 game with 1:53 remaining before the break. However, it was Franklin again, this time slashing through the lane, to convert the final basket of the first half to send the Warriors into the locker room with a 43-37 lead. Franklin had 18 first-half points to pace Midland who shot 60 percent from the field as a team over the first 20 minutes.
"Marcus was really big for us again tonight, especially in the first half," noted Eisner. "Alex [Starkel] stepped up in the second half and helped carry us to the victory. I was particularly proud of the toughness we showed for the second straight game, on the road, to withstand the home team's rally in a difficult environment."
Midland surged out of the break on a 27-10 run over the first nine minutes of the second half, capped by three-pointers by Jalen Hueser (6'2''-G) on back-to-back possessions. Staked to their biggest lead of the night, 70-47, with 11 minutes left in the game, the Warriors continued to knock down baskets and cruised to the 89-67 victory.
Franklin finished with a game-high 24 points on 11-13 shooting from the field. Alex Starkel (6'7''-F) poured in 12 of his 21 points in the second half while hauling in a team-high six rebounds. Trevor Bryant (6'4''-F) chipped in 12 points on the night, while Hueser and Vaughn added nine points apiece.
The Warriors shot 63 percent (39-62) in the game, including a 10-16 effort from beyond the arc, and held the Mustangs to 40 percent (22-55) shooting. Midland dominated the paint, outscoring Morningside in the lane, 50-20.
The Warriors improve to 26-7 overall this year, while Morningside falls to 27-4. The loss snapped a 14-game winning streak for Morningside.
"This was a great way to finish off the GPAC portion of our season," added Eisner. "We had a few hiccups along the way during conference play, but this is the way we need to be playing at this time of year. It'll be nice to get a little breather now before we head down to Branson."
For the first time in school history, Midland will be appearing at the NAIA DII National Championship Tournament in Branson, Missouri for the third consecutive season.

GPAC Tournament Final: Midland - Morningside 89-67
GPAC Tournament Semifinals:
Morningside - Briar Cliff 89-77
Midland - Dakota Wesleyan 81-74

Courtesy of GPACSports