Morningside wins 2018 GPAC Tournament - Mar 2, 2018
Morningside College, ranked 6th in NAIA Division II, made a sweep of regular season and post season titles by winning the 2018 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Men's Postseason Basketball Tournament, presented by Cypress Risk Management. The Mustangs came from behind late to win over 11th ranked Northwestern 80-76 in game played at the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center/Allee Gym in Sioux City, Iowa. In front of an electric crowd the host Mustangs erased a 12-point deficit with 10:40 to go in the game to pick up the four point win. Northwestern totaled 15 three-pointers in the game (42.9%), but it was the post play of Morningside's Tyler Borchers (6'7''-C) down the stretch that pushed the top seed to the win. Borchers ended with a game high 24 points on 8-12 shooting from the field. Colton Kooima (6'3''-G) paced the Red Raiders with 23. He, Riley Francis (6'4''-G), and Derek Buysse (6'5''-F) all hit four three pointers for the Red Raiders. Morningside shot 44.3 percent for the game, while Northwestern shot 42.2 %. Both teams committed just nine turnovers in the fast-paced contest. Morningside outscored Northwestern 32-16 in the paint and 15-7 on points off turnovers. There was three ties and five lead changes in the game. Both teams receive an automatic berth to the NAIA Men's Division II National Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which runs March 7-13 at the Sanford Pentagon, since the runner-up gains the berth if the regular season champion (top seed Morningside) won the postseason tournament.
Player of the Year: Colton Kooima (6'3''-G) of Northwestern, IA Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Jay Wolfe (6'4''-G) of Briar Cliff Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Miller (6'2''-G) of Hastings Freshman of the Year: Nick Kornieck (6'7''-G-97) of Doane Coach of the Year: Jim Sykes of Morningside
