The Park University men's basketball team had their first road matchup of Heart Conference play against the Mount Mercy Mustangs. The Mustangs were only down two at the halfway point 36-34, but Park relied on a 6-2 run and multiple, crucial late game defensive stands to walk away with a 65-61 victory when the final buzzer sounded.
This victory evens the Pirates regular season record to 3-3 overall on the year, and Park moves to 2-0 so far in Heart Conference matchups. Contrarily, Mount Mercy's early season struggles continue, as they drop to 1-5 on the season and to 0-2 in conference play.
Park jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the opening minutes of the game with buckets from Christian Bradford, Jacob Barnett, Jasigha Barnes, and Jaden Robinson. Mount Mercy would pull within one point after a three pointer from Cameron Williams, but the Pirates followed that up with a 7-0 run that was capped off with a trey from Barnes. The game would become a back and forth affair until the Mustangs took their first lead of the game at 25-22, as Williams continued to cook. He ended up with sixteen first half points, and it helped the Mustangs enter the locker room only down a single possession at the half.
The first four minutes of the second half became the Robinson show, and he made his presence felt on both ends of the court. He picked up a steal, a couple rebounds, and nine points during that stretch that correlated with a 13-5 run in the Pirates favor. However, the Mustangs did not fold at this point, and they battled back to take the lead 56-55 with six minutes left, after a strong finish by Jordan Willis in the paint.
The defenses would lock in following that bucket, and both teams went scoreless for over two minutes before Park regained the lead with a Tristan McRoberts jumper. Since the basket seemed to shrink a bit from all the defensive pressure from both sides, Park would instead do their damage at the line to close out the game. McRoberts hit a pair at the line to time the game at 59-59, and Barnett would give the Pirates a two point lead less than a minute later with his own clutch free throws.
Barnes would add to the lead with a couple more shots at the charity stripe, but it was the Pirate defense that showed out in the waning moments. Park held Mount Mercy scoreless over the final 3:38 of play, besides a last second layup, to ensure that they would be leaving Cedar Rapids with a four point victory.
Park held the overall shooting advantage in the game, shooting 45.1% from the floor compared to Mount Mercy's 37.7% performance.
There was no real advantage in points in the paint or points off turnovers with Mount Mercy leading by a single basket in both of these categories, reflecting the closeness of the final score.
Park did win the battle of the boards with 46 total rebounds compared to 37 for Mount Mercy, and this proved to be one of the deciding factors, as Park corralled four more offensive rebounds and scored an additional five second chance points more than the Mustangs.
Barnett led the Pirates in scoring with 18 points, followed by Robinson with 14 of his own. Abubakar Kromah picked up a double-double with exactly ten points and rebounds, and he led the Pirates in the latter category.
Robinson and McRoberts both tied for the game lead with three steals, and McRoberts also had three blocks to round out his outstanding defensive performance.
The Pirates continue their road trip in Baldwin City, Kansas on Wednesday, November 20 against the Baker Wildcats. The Wildcats are off to a strong start with a 5-1 record (2-0 Heart Conference), and the game is scheduled for tipoff at 7:30 p.m. WATCH HERE
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