No. 14 Morningside hands BU 76-72 loss

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BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Despite a career-high 25 points from Raphael Allen, the 14th-ranked Morningside University men's basketball team had four players score in double figures as the Mustangs posted a 76-72 victory in the final game of the Four Points by Sheraton Bruin Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.  

The loss dropped the Bruins to 9-6 on the season and snapped BU's three-game winning streak. Morningside improved to 13-3 overall. 

Allen drained seven 3-pointers in the loss and was 9-of-13 from the field and 7-of-9 from long range. He also added six rebounds. Nigel Wilson finished with 13 points and seven boards. 

Joey Skoff led the Mustangs with 20 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Justin Sitti added 13 points, four boards, and a pair of steals. Brendan Buckley and Aidan Vanderloo finished with 12 and 10 points respectively.  

Neither team led by more than four points until a 13-2 MU run gave the Mustangs a 23-15 lead with 9:44 left in the first half. A 3-pointer by Dylan Johnson and a layup by Sitti extended the MU advantage to 11 points at 30-19 at the 7:11 mark. The Bruins battled back to within two points at 33-31 with a 3-pointer by Connor Mohr and back-to-back triples by Allen with five minutes remaining before the break. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half as MU took a 37-33 lead at the intermission.

Wilson led BU in the first half with 11 points and two rebounds. Allen added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. 

Skoff paced the Mustangs in the opening period with eight points, two assists, and a pair of steals. Johnson and Sitti added seven points apiece. 

After back-to-back layups by Emarr Vinson pulled the Bruins to within one point two minutes into the second half, the Mustangs used a 10-0 run, fueled by six points from Skoff, to pull ahead 51-40 with 12:35 left in the game. 

The Bruins sliced the deficit to four points following a 10-4 run, making it 56-52 at the 9:08 mark. BU was held scoreless over the next three minutes as MU extended the margin to nine points following a layup by Vanderloo, making it 64-55 with five minutes remaining. 

After trading four-point runs, another triple by Allen and a pair of free throws by Christian Carter made it a four-point game at 68-64 with 1:41 left in the game. 

After the Mustangs drained four straight free throws to expand the margin to eight points, the Bruins used a 6-1 run capped by a 3-pointer from Allen to make it a three-point contest at 73-70 with 31 seconds remaining. MU hit three free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal the 76-72 victory.  

The Bruins return to conference action this Saturday, Jan. 4, when they travel to Madison, S.D., for a 5 p.m. contest at Dakota State University.