Late surge carries Vikings over Mustangs

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Mount Mercy men's basketball team got off to a great start on Wednesday night, but it was Missouri Valley who finished strong and defeated the Mustangs, 71-68, in Heart of America Athletic Conference action at Hennessey Recreation Center.

Mount Mercy forced Missouri Valley to use two timeouts in the game's first five minutes, starting with an 11-2 run and leading 15-5 shortly after. From there, the Mustangs held a seven point lead at the break and were up by five with just over three minutes to play. A pair of free throws by Logan Walker and a triple by Jarrius Burnett evened things up at 65-65.

The lead changed hands four times over the final two minutes, the last coming when J'Luan Patterson dropped two free throws for a 69-68 lead with 59 seconds left. The Mustangs had a pair of opportunities to take the lead but couldn't convert and saw their hopes of a second straight win disappear. Missouri Valley improved to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the Heart, while Mount Mercy fell to 1-6 and 1-3 in conference play.

Ryan Bartley's 18 points led all scorers. He also grabbed four rebounds. Anthony Horton, Jr. had a nice all-around game, putting up 16 points, a game-high seven boards, and seven assists. Jakari Bradley came off the bench to score nine points and pull down four rebounds. Rusmir Hamzic tallied seven points and six boards.

Vincent Taylor led a balanced Viking offense with 13 points. Burnett and Patterson each finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Cawhan Smith had 10 points, six boards, and a game-high seven steals.

Mount Mercy's homestand continues with a Heart matchup against Park on Saturday at 2:00 pm followed by a non-conference contest with Columbia on Tuesday at 6:00 pm at Hennessey Rec Center.