Pargett leads second-half run for Mustangs
By Jerry Giese Journal sports writer | Posted: Thursday, February 08, 2007
The way the public address announcer at Allee Gymnasium enunciated the first syllable of Thomas Pargett's last name, it sounded exactly like charge.
Pargett led a late second-half charge, scoring five of eight consecutive baskets in a 22-6 run that triggered Morningside College's men's basketball team to an 86-65 non-conference win over Dakota State Wednesday night. Two of the hoops in the stretch for the 6-3 junior from Syracuse, Neb., were three-point field goals.
Pargett came within three points of tying his season-high, as he finished with 23 points in Morningside's third straight victory. He went 7 of 9 from the field, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.
"I've been struggling with the threes as of late," said Pargett. "I guess I wasn't bending my legs and my form was off. Tonight, I just bent low and made sure I followed through. It worked."
Morningside (18-10), which also got 13 points from Jack Rother and 10 from Seth Atkins, allowed Dakota State, a team that entered with a seven-game losing streak, to pull within 60-51 on a three-pointer by Josh Magbuhat with 8:39 left in the game.
Mitch Carstens launched the Mustangs' 15-0 run with a three-pointer and Pargett followed with his fourth trey of the night. Matt Johnson got into the act with a steal-layup combination while Brady Helmink's three increased the lead to 71-51 with 6:08 left.
"We just kept cutting hard to the basket," said Pargett. "When teams play us tight, all we do is set screens and someone gets open. That's what happened to me. We made good passes and my teammates set good screens."
"We let Morningside get too comfortable on the threes in the second half," said Dakota State Coach Wade Kooiman, whose squad stumbled to their 23rd loss in their last 24 games since a season-opening 81-69 win over Dana College.
"We didn't do we did at the beginning of each half and that was, pressuring their three-point shot. Morningside's shooting 40 percent from three for a reason. They have shooters."
The shooters, however, struggled at the beginning.
Dakota State (2-23), which got a game-high 26 points from 6-8, 250-pound post Joe Backus, took an 18-13 lead when Backus muscled his way for a basket. Then, when Morningside took its turn on offense, Andy Hansen blocked Mike Laue's basket.
Morningside Coach Jim Sykes was whistled for a technical foul as he disputed a call near his bench. Fortunately for the Mustangs, Frank Calles missed the two technical free throws and Dakota State committed a turnover.
Rother followed with a basket. Fouled on the play by Brian Bollin, Rother hit the free throw to complete a three-point play and it launched a 25-4 run that concluded the final nine minutes of the first half.
"I pushed the ball a little too hard," laughed Sykes. "We needed something to pick us up and play with more intensity.
"I was worried about our focus going into this game," he added. "Our shots weren't falling, we weren't finishing. We weren't passing well."
"Coach usually isn't that animated," said Pargett. "He got us fired up. We knew we had to get up at the same level where he was, emotionally."
Pargett swished a pair of three-pointers and added a pair of free throws as Morningside closed the first half with a 38-22 lead. The Mustangs never lost the lead, but Dakota State, which has dropped 15 games by less than 10 points, closed within eight points twice in the second half.
Morningside will resume Great Plains Athletic Conference action Saturday night when it plays a 7:30 game at Briar Cliff.
"I'm not looking past Briar Cliff," said Sykes. "It's going to take a great effort on our part to pull it off because they're playing well as of late. It'll be a battle, no question about it."
Pargett led a late second-half charge, scoring five of eight consecutive baskets in a 22-6 run that triggered Morningside College's men's basketball team to an 86-65 non-conference win over Dakota State Wednesday night. Two of the hoops in the stretch for the 6-3 junior from Syracuse, Neb., were three-point field goals.
Pargett came within three points of tying his season-high, as he finished with 23 points in Morningside's third straight victory. He went 7 of 9 from the field, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc.
"I've been struggling with the threes as of late," said Pargett. "I guess I wasn't bending my legs and my form was off. Tonight, I just bent low and made sure I followed through. It worked."
Morningside (18-10), which also got 13 points from Jack Rother and 10 from Seth Atkins, allowed Dakota State, a team that entered with a seven-game losing streak, to pull within 60-51 on a three-pointer by Josh Magbuhat with 8:39 left in the game.
Mitch Carstens launched the Mustangs' 15-0 run with a three-pointer and Pargett followed with his fourth trey of the night. Matt Johnson got into the act with a steal-layup combination while Brady Helmink's three increased the lead to 71-51 with 6:08 left.
"We just kept cutting hard to the basket," said Pargett. "When teams play us tight, all we do is set screens and someone gets open. That's what happened to me. We made good passes and my teammates set good screens."
"We let Morningside get too comfortable on the threes in the second half," said Dakota State Coach Wade Kooiman, whose squad stumbled to their 23rd loss in their last 24 games since a season-opening 81-69 win over Dana College.
"We didn't do we did at the beginning of each half and that was, pressuring their three-point shot. Morningside's shooting 40 percent from three for a reason. They have shooters."
The shooters, however, struggled at the beginning.
Dakota State (2-23), which got a game-high 26 points from 6-8, 250-pound post Joe Backus, took an 18-13 lead when Backus muscled his way for a basket. Then, when Morningside took its turn on offense, Andy Hansen blocked Mike Laue's basket.
Morningside Coach Jim Sykes was whistled for a technical foul as he disputed a call near his bench. Fortunately for the Mustangs, Frank Calles missed the two technical free throws and Dakota State committed a turnover.
Rother followed with a basket. Fouled on the play by Brian Bollin, Rother hit the free throw to complete a three-point play and it launched a 25-4 run that concluded the final nine minutes of the first half.
"I pushed the ball a little too hard," laughed Sykes. "We needed something to pick us up and play with more intensity.
"I was worried about our focus going into this game," he added. "Our shots weren't falling, we weren't finishing. We weren't passing well."
"Coach usually isn't that animated," said Pargett. "He got us fired up. We knew we had to get up at the same level where he was, emotionally."
Pargett swished a pair of three-pointers and added a pair of free throws as Morningside closed the first half with a 38-22 lead. The Mustangs never lost the lead, but Dakota State, which has dropped 15 games by less than 10 points, closed within eight points twice in the second half.
Morningside will resume Great Plains Athletic Conference action Saturday night when it plays a 7:30 game at Briar Cliff.
"I'm not looking past Briar Cliff," said Sykes. "It's going to take a great effort on our part to pull it off because they're playing well as of late. It'll be a battle, no question about it."
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 0 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
