Rough outing for Mustangs

Last weekend proved to be a rough one for the Malta Mustangs basketball team, as the squad dropped a pair of district games to Harlem and Poplar.

The Mustangs will hope to rebound this weekend as they take on the Wolf Point Wolves in Wolf Point on Thursday, January 30, at 7 p.m. They will then take another road trip to Havre to face the Blue Ponies on Saturday, February 1, in Havre.

In Malta's 70-43 loss to Harlem, the Mustangs were led by Kooper Oxarart who had 11 points. Connor Tuss added 10 points. Pierce Mortenson and Ben Costin each had eight points.

The game featured plenty of fouls by both teams as Malta committed 11 in the first half and nine in the second half. The Mustangs made it to the free-throw line for 28 attempts and only made 11. The team did not score a single three-pointer in the game.

Harlem committed 13 fouls in the first half and thirteen more in the second half. The Wildcats were 18-of-26 from the charity stripe and made eight treys.

In Malta's loss to Poplar, Inyan Growing Thunder knocked down a buzzer-beating trey to defeat Malta 51-50. The Mustangs were up by four possessions before Poplar started their run in the fourth quarter.

Malta was led by Oxarart who had 20 points. Tanner Smith, Mortenson, and Tuss each had seven points in the loss.

The win was Poplar's first conference win of the season.