Fried's 22 Not Enough as Mustangs Fall to Graceland

LAMONI, Iowa - The Mustangs returned to the court for the first of five December matchups, falling to Graceland on the road, 93-72.

The first half concluded with the Mustangs down by seven points, the halftime scoreboard reading 36-43 in favor of Graceland. The push to bridge this deficit in the second half was met by a Graceland team that managed to extend their lead significantly. The pivotal moment came when Graceland surged ahead by 28 points with just over six minutes remaining in the game, holding on to the lead for the remainder of the contest.

The Mustangs were led by Jaxson Fried, who scored a team-high 22 points on 8-13 shooting, followed by Dimitrije Nikolic and Kaden Johnson, contributing 13 and 12 points respectively. Ahmad Ingram was another contributor on both sides of the ball, adding six points and two steals. Despite falling on Wednesday, the Mustangs shot a season high in both field goal percentage (51%) and three point percentage (42.9%).

The Yellowjackets were paced by Cole Bowen who scored a game-high 23 points on 9-15 shooting. Bowen would be joined in double figures by Carson Busch and Darrius Davis, who added on 16 and 11 points respectively. The Yellowjackets would shoot a stifling 61.4% on 35-57 shooting, including going an impressive 16-19 from the line.

With this loss, the Mustangs drop to 1-8 on the season, and will continue the road stretch against Missouri Valley on Wednesday as the team looks for their first win in conference play.