Mustangs split games

The Malta Mustangs basketball team split games against Northern B opponents last week, posting a victory over the Poplar Indians in Poplar last Friday, January 14, and nearly shocking the Shelby Coyotes in a thriller in Malta on Saturday, January 15.

The Mustangs are scheduled to face the Harlem Wildcats on Thursday, January 20, in Malta. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. They will then host the Wolf Point Wolves on Saturday, January 22, at 6 p.m. The game will serve as Malta's Senior Night.

In Malta's win over Poplar, the final score was 57-40. The Mustangs were led by Jonathan Siewing who scored 20 points. Kaden Bishop had 13 points. Jared Eggebrecht had seven points.

"We tried to pick the pace of the game up," Malta Head Coach David Costin said. "We are starting to get up and down the floor a little bit and a little quicker. We are starting to trap and play full-court defense."

Malta outscored Poplar 22-9 in the first quarter. Poplar would then outscore Malta 13-10 in the second quarter. Both teams put up 10 points in the third, and Malta would seal the game with a 15-8 run in the fourth quarter.

"We executed team defense and played well overall as a team, and got the win," Williamson said.

The Mustangs nearly dug themselves out of a hole in their 70-65 loss to Shelby. Malta fell behind 20-10 at the conclusion of the first quarter and was down 37-24 at halftime.

"We talked about doing the little jobs, like boxing out defensively, the last three minutes of the first quarter we eased up and that fueled their run that got us down by 10," Coach Costin said.

He then said that he was proud of how the group continued to play.

"They didn't quit, they kept their heads up and battled back," Coach Costin said. "Again, it's about executing the details and we let down on that a little bit."

Late in the third quarter, the Mustangs trailed by 18 but went on a 19-3 run that would bring them as close as two points late in the fourth quarter. The score was 55-53 with 3:32 remaining. Malta would outscore Shelby 26-16 in the quarter, but the Coyotes held on to win 70-65.

"Their size is a challenge," Mustang Senior Captain Rex Williamson said. "But, I think we did pretty good tonight. We just kept positive and did everything right tonight."

Malta was led in scoring by Williamson and freshman Stockton Oxarart who scored 15 points off of five treys. Sophomore Treyton Wilke had 10 points.

Freshman Bodhi Brenden had eight points and Siewing had eight points.

"The younger guys stepped up and helped out a lot," Williamson said. "They have a lot coming. So, I am happy for them that they played well."

Rhett Reynolds, an athletic 6'9" center, led Shelby with 39 points and a couple of slam dunks.

"They were a hard team," Coach Costin said. "They were big and had good size, they covered the floor well, and it was hard to find open shots. It took a while to get comfortable to attack their 2-3 zone defense."

The Mustangs are without Connor Tuss, their 6'7" forward, who is out with an injury.

"Connor would've helped a lot but we kept after it and did what had to be done," Williamson said.

In Malta's first home game of the 2022 year, Williamson said that it felt great to be on his homecourt.

"It's a lot better than traveling," Williamson said. "It is really awesome to be home and not having to travel. The crowd was amazing. It helps a lot when they get rowdy. It helps pump us up and helps us play even better. I want to thank them for that."