Hall Nets 27 as Broncos Hold on to Beat Warriors, 69-68

(Fremont, NE) – The Hastings Broncos picked up their third conference win of the season in a hard-fought game against Midland on Wednesday night, 69-68. The game featured nine lead changes, with Midland having an 11-point first half lead and an eight-point advantage five minutes into the second half.

Hastings grabbed the momentum early on, jumping out to a 12-6 lead with six points from freshman Maverick Binder during that stretch. Leading 12-10, junior DaRon Hall got to the basket for two and Binder made a free throw to push the lead back to five. Midland came back with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 20-15 with 9:28 left in the first half.

Sophomore Ben Boudreau scored on a layup, but Midland continued to grow their lead out to 25-17, and eventually 30-19 at the 5:08 mark. Boudreau started the climb back with two from the line and Hall drilled one from deep to bring the lead to six with 2:30 left. 

A Binder three-pointer cut it to one, and after a Warrior layup, Hall completed an old-fashioned three-point play to get within two. Midland scored once more before halftime, but another Binder three made it a 34-33 Warrior lead at halftime. Midland shot 48 percent in the first half and held Hastings to 38 percent, but four threes from the Broncos the Midland's one helped them stay close. Binder and Hall led Hastings with 12 each at the half.

Sophomore Hunter Hill scored to open the second half and put Hastings up one, but Midland fought back with a 13-4 run to take a 47-39 lead with 15:54 to go. A three from Boudreau began a 7-0 Hastings run to get within one, then a couple minutes after their run, sophomore David Hageman gave them a 52-51 with 10:49 left.

The teams traded baskets until Midland gained some momentum, going up 59-54 under eight. Trailing 64-58 with six minutes left, Hall stepped into a three and drilled it, then after a Midland layup, junior Myles Simon made two free throws. 

On the ensuing defensive possession, junior Cameron Coraggio forced a turnover and found junior David Ogunlade for a transition layup. Ogunlade then stole the ball, and after a timeout, Hall knocked down a jumper to go up 67-66 with 3:05 remaining.

After a chaotic sequence that featured three turnovers in a matter of seconds, Hall eventually scored to put the Broncos up 69-66 with 1:48 to go. Midland scored on a second-chance basket and got fouled, but could not make the free throw, as Hastings clung to a one-point lead with 90 seconds left.

Hastings ran the clock on their offensive play, missing a three as the shot clock was about to expire. Midland got the rebound but turned it over with 29 seconds left. Hall missed the front end of the one-and-one after getting fouled. With Midland down one and the ball, they missed a jumper, but kept possession on an offensive board and timeout. On their last chance, the Warriors missed a three as time expired, as Hastings held on to win, 69-68.

Hastings shot 59 percent in the second half and was the beneficiary of Midland shooting 9-21 from the free throw line during the final half. Hall had a game-high 27 points, six assists, and six rebounds. Binder contributed 13 points with four triples, while Ogunlade had a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with four points.

Up next, Hastings will travel to Crete to play Doane University on Saturday, beginning at 3:45pm to close out their season.