CRETE, Neb. -- Adam Palmer is off to a fast start in his senior season for the Morningside College men's basketball team.

Palmer, a former second-team Iowa Newspaper Association all-stater at Sioux City North, has been the leading scorer for the Mustangs in their first two games.

Saturday, Palmer tossed in a team-high 17 points as Morningside improved to 2-0 with a 74-69 win over Friends (Kan.) in the Doane Tigers Classic at the Fuhrer Field House.

Palmer opened his senior season with a career-high 22 points in an 89-85 win over Bellevue (Neb.) on Friday.

Mitch Carstens, another of coach Jim Sykes' senior starters, added 15 points while the Mustangs got strong contributions from reserves Jake Hamburger and Ryan Gass.

Hamburger, who had nine points in his collegiate debut, collected 15 points Saturday while Gass added 10 points and five rebounds.

Morningside led 35-33 at halftime and the second half featured 10 lead changes, the last coming when Palmer scored on a layup with 1:45 remaining.

Friends missed three shots and turned the ball over in its final four possessions and the Mustangs converted three of four free throws to seal the win.

Romar Jones led the Falcons, who dropped to 0-3, with 21 points and John Bridges added 16.

Morningside plays its home opener on Friday, hosting Peru State at 7:30 p.m. in the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center.

Friends (69)

Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP

Avery Richardson 27 2 6 0 0 2 2 2 4

Chris Jackson 22 2 5 0 0 2 3 2 5

Romar Jones 27 8 13 1 1 1 0 3 21

Tim Ellis 26 2 6 1 2 6 1 4 5

John Bridges 25 7 9 2 2 4 0 3 16

Tim Hull 11 2 3 0 0 1 0 2 5

Chris Heard 15 2 3 1 2 1 1 0 5

Gregory Hudspeth 12 0 1 0 0 2 3 1 0

Brett Steven 24 1 6 2 2 1 2 1 4

E. Applegate 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Zak VanLooy 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 4

Sean Jantz 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Team 9

Totals 200 28 55 7 9 29 12 18 69

Morningside (74)

Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP

Cory Gaston 23 2 7 0 0 4 2 5 4

Eddie Marrs 27 1 7 2 2 5 1 1 4

Mitch Carstens 32 5 17 3 4 4 2 2 15

Adam Palmer 29 7 8 3 6 7 2 2 17

Garth Hamilton 23 1 6 4 4 3 1 2 6

Jake Hamburger 24 4 6 4 4 4 2 1 15

Joel Havenman 11 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3

Ryan Gass 19 4 6 1 1 5 1 0 10

Mitchell Schultze 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

Trent Miller 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Kevin Zoz 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Team 4

Totals 200 25 60 17 21 36 13 14 74

Score by halves:

Friends 33 36 -- 69

Morningside 35 39 -- 74

3-point goals - Friends 6-15 (Jones 4-7, Jackson 1-3, Hull 1-1, Richardson 0-1, Jantz 0-1, Hudspeth 0-1, Steven 0-1); Morningside 7-22 (Hamburger 3-4, Carstens 2-9, Haveman 1-1, Gass 1-3, Palmer 0-1, Marrs 0-1, Gaston 0-3).