Men’s Basketball Shuts Down Mount Mercy

Lamoni, Iowa - The Graceland University Men's Basketball team took on the Mount Mercy University Mustangs. The Yellowjackets defeated the Mustangs, 83-76. Graceland move to 16-5 and are 13-4 in the conference.

Graceland (6-16, 5-13) | Mount Mercy (17-5, 14-4)
Half 1: Graceland 41 | Mount Mercy 31
Mount Mercy sank a three to open the game; Darrius Davis would answer with his own three-pointer to even the score, followed by an Aleksa Markovic layup (5-3). The Mustangs would push a six-point jump to lead by four points (9-5). Carter Brown drained one from the deep to break the run. Both teams would trade baskets. Amitai Afenjar would collect six points and JY Smith for a layup for a collective eight-point jump to take the lead by four (17-13). The Yellowjackets would work a ten-point jump from a Carson Busch (five points) layup, baskets from Darrius Davis (three points) and Austin Braun (two points). Mount Mercy would answer for their own six-point collection (30-24). The Yellowjackets would lead by ten from a made charity stripe by Patrick Fisher (35-25) and hold the ten-point lead going into halftime with a score of 41-31.

Half 2: Graceland 41 | Mount Mercy 45
Graceland would find the first ten-point jump, baskets from Austin Braun (seven points) and Aleksa Markovic (three points) (52-35). The Yellowjackets would hold their largest lead over the Mustangs of 20 points from the made layup by Darrius Davis and a Braun three-pointer (57-37). Mount Mercy would answer for an 11-point jump (59-51); JY Smith would break the run from the line. Late in the half, Akeen Woods would add six points to trade baskets with the Mustangs. Graceland would keep their advantage and close the game with Braun charity stripes, securing the 83-76 victory.

By the numbers:
30-27– The Yellowjackets had 30 field goals and the Mustangs sank 26 field goals
8-9 – Graceland had eight three-pointer and Mount Mercy had nine
24-8 – The Yellowjackets had 16 more bench points than the Mustangs
32-28 – Graceland rebounds compared Mount Mercy
15-13 – The Yellowjacket made charity stripe compared to the Mustangs

Graceland Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Austin Braun – 25
Rebounding Leader: Patrick Fisher – 10
Assist Leader: Austin Braun – 4
Steal Leader: Darrius Davis – 2

Mount Mercy Leaders:
Scoring Leader: Rusmir Hamzic – 20
Rebounding Leader: Anthony Horton, Jr. – 6
Assist Leader: Anthony Horton, Jr. – 6
Steal Leader: Anthony Horton, Jr. – 2

Up Next:
The Yellowjackets will be back on their home court on Wednesday, February 7 when they take on the Baker University Wildcats. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.

-Yellowjackets-