MITCHELL, S.D.—A stellar second half effort against the No. 1 team in NAIA Division II men's basketball along with a career-day off the bench from
Riley Minix weren't enough to overcome a 16-point halftime deficit.
Southeastern ended up on the short end of a 91-82 game at the Corn Palace to the top-ranked Mustangs during its first game at the Hoop City Classic.
Minix led all scorers with 32 points off the bench. The freshman was 12-of-20 from the field and converted on five of his eight 3-point attempts in his 36 minutes of action.
On the first play of the second half, Morningside (14-0) took its biggest lead of the game at 19 (56-37) on a 3-pointer by Matt Hahn. The Fire (11-5) answered with a 10-2 run over the next 2:37 to whittle the deficit down to 11 on a layup by
Devon Ford.
The Mustangs were held to just 38% from the field and two total 3-pointers in the second half, but managed to push the advantage back to 19 with 10:13 remaining.
Minix then went on a 7-2 run himself, and
Jeremy Oppenheimer chipped in the next six points to get the Morningside lead down to nine with 5:55 to go as the Fire held the Mustangs without a field goal for 5:34.
Oppenheimer answered a Morningside basket with another layup to get the game back to nine (77-68), but Morningside got a dunk and a 3-pointer on their next two possessions to keep the Fire at arm's length.
Oppenheimer finished with 22 points, eight assists, and four steals.
Southeastern got as close as three in the final 2:44 on 3-pointers by
Reggie Mesidor and then again by Minix with 27 seconds left, but were unable to get any closer.
Isaiah Moody was also in double figures, adding 10 points, two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Karl Jeanty grabbed 10 rebounds, all on the defensive side as the Fire were outrebounded 43-31 with just six offensive boards.
Morningside had 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 25 second chance points.
Next up for the Fire will be seventh-ranked Dakota Wesleyan tomorrow at 4 p.m. Eastern.
