CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- After Mount Mercy fell behind by four points early in the second half, the Mustangs broke open a close contest and wiped out Ashford, 91-73, in a Midwest Collegiate Conference men's basketball regular season finale on Seniors Day Saturday at Hennessey Recreation Center.
There were 11 ties and 15 lead changes in the first half, which ended with Ashford in front, 34-33. The Saints led, 46-42, with 15:08 left in the second period when the Mustangs took over. An 11-0 run put Mount Mercy up by seven, and five minutes later, it was a 17-point advantage when junior forward Marty Tope hit a jumper with 6:59 to go.
The Saints would never recover. Senior forward Keith Kuenstling's layup gave the Mustangs their largest lead at 20, 88-68, with just under two minutes remaining. Senior forward David Trumblee's dunk with three seconds left ended the scoring and gave Mount Mercy its 11th 90-point game of the year and fourth in the last five games.
Freshman forward Chad Underwood crashed Seniors Day and led six Mustangs in double figures with a game-high 19 points, all but one of them coming in the second half. Kuenstling had 17 points and six rebounds, Tope 15 points and four boards.
Senior guard Jake Carey added 13 points, freshman guard Jordan Ask a career-high 12 points, and Trumblee 10. Junior forward Josh Watznauer grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and blocked three shots, and junior guard Jerome Campbell dished out a game-high seven assists.
Five Saints reached double digits, led by Daniel Joiner's 17 points. He also had four assists. Peter Tanzillo scored 13 points and hauled down eight rebounds. Rashad Carrington, Byron Emerson, and Matthias Burns tallied 11 points each.
The 2010 MCC Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Monday when ninth-seeded Iowa Wesleyan (8-19, 3-13 MCC) visits eighth-seeded Clarke (6-24, 3-13 MCC). The survivor earns a date with top-seeded and 14th-ranked Grand View (22-7, 11-5 MCC) in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
Wednesday's other quarterfinals all tip at 7:00 p.m. and include sixth-seeded William Penn (20-10, 9-7 MCC) at third-seeded Mount Mercy (22-8, 10-6 MCC), seventh-seeded Waldorf (10-16, 6-10 MCC) at second-seeded Viterbo (Wis.) (13-14, 11-5 MCC), and fifth-seeded St. Ambrose (18-12, 9-7 MCC) at fourth-seeded Ashford (19-11, 10-6 MCC).
The semifinals will take place on Friday at 7:00 p.m., followed by the MCC title game on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. The higher seed hosts each game throughout the tournament. For final standings and tournament brackets, click here.
