Bellevue, Neb. - Mayville State University Men's Basketball took on the No. 14 Morningside Mustangs Sunday afternoon after 15 days of rest. The Comets hadn't played since December 14th where they took down Dakota State in Madison. 

Morningside entered the game at 11-3 overall and with two top 25 wins on the season. They took down No. 24 Kansas Wesleyan and No. 9 Concordia (Neb.) earlier in the year. Unfortunately, their offense was too strong for Mayville State and the Comets fell 76-97.

"I thought we competed and played hard tonight. I thought our defense looked really good at times," said head coach Brandon McGruder. "Morningside is a really good team; they have the highest offensive efficiency in the country and we held them to their second lowest made 3 pointers all season. We forced them to beat us doing things they weren't necessarily comfortable with."

1^st Half

• Mustangs get out to an early 12-4 lead
• Justin Fisher sinks a three to make it 12-18 Mustangs, 13 minutes to go
• Butler finds Trey Swayzer to cut their deficit to 3; 15-18 Morningside at 12:30 mark
• Swayzer follows up with another lay up to make it a 1-point game 17-18; Comets go on an 8-0 run
• Halfway through, Morningside leads 24-22; Swayzer leads the way with 8 points
• Devin Griffin nails his first 3 pointer of the season to make it a 1-point game 26-25 Mustangs
• Fisher sinks a step back 3 for the first tie of the game at 28 with 8:30 remaining
• Shot clock violation on Morningside turns it over; Comets couldn't take advantage
• Tied at 32-32, John White, Jr. gets the Comets their first lead at the 5:45 mark, 34-32
• Stevan Garza muscles up and gets 2 in the paint to make it 36-32
• Turnover by Mustangs gets Swayzer an open look to put the Comets up 38-34 with 4:30 left to go in the first half – Morningside has led by as much as 9
• Morningside goes on a 7-0 run to go up 41-38 
• Comets have a 2-minute dry spell with no buckets
• Comets head into the locker room trailing the No. 14 Morningside Mustangs 40-43

 
2^nd Half

• Mustangs go on an 11-2 run in the first 3 minutes to give themselves their largest lead of the game with 12; 54-42 Morningside
• Comets chip away getting within 9 but they struggle to stop the Morningside hot offense
• 48-57 Mustangs with 15 minutes remaining
• Fisher nails a 3 pointer at 11 minutes; 66-57 Morningside
• 9 minutes – 76-58 biggest lead for the Mustangs with 18
• Fisher lays it in for 2 followed by a Garza 2 to snap the Comets drought to get Mayville State within 14
• Mustangs extend their lead to 21 with 5 minutes remaining
• Comets fail to find any offensive momentum and trail 71-90 at the 2-minute mark
• Mustangs outscore the Comets 54-36 in the second half & get the win 97-76

Team Leaders:
Trey Swayzer - 17 points, 4 rebounds
Stevan Garza - 17 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist
London Williams - 7 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block

Overall:
30-64 from the field (46.9%)
5-24 from behind the arc (20.8%)
11-20 at the line (55%)
46 Points in the Paint
27 Bench Points

The Comets will look to bounce back quickly, as they take on Haskell Indian Nations University (4-11) on Monday at 2:00pm. For full schedule details you can visit: https://msucomets.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule