LINCOLN, Neb -- After leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Nebraska Wesleyan men's basketball team was outscored by 31 in the second half as 14th-ranked Morningside defeated the Prairie Wolves 96-68 in GPAC men's basketball on Saturday afternoon at Snyder Arena.

Morningside opened the second half on a 29-6 run in the first eight minutes of the half as they diced through the Prairie Wolves defense for fast break dunks and uncontested layups.

Nebraska Wesleyan looked like they would win their first GPAC game of the season early on as the full court pressure defense was on attack.  NWU jumped ahead by as many as 13 points with a 31-18 lead at the 10:18 mark of the first half.  Trey Bardsley scored 10 points in the first five minutes as the Prairie Wolves looked good for the home crowd.

The end of the first half didn't go as well for the Prairie Wolves as they were held without a field goal for the final 5:58 of the half.  During that stretch NWU scored just five points on free throws as Morningside closed to 40-37 at halftime.

Morningside got a layup to open the half and cut the lead to one, but Byron Thompson responded with a 3-pointer from the corner to go up four.  That was the last time NWU would see the lead as the score went from 43-39 in NWU's favor to 62-43 for the Mustangs in a six minute stretch.

Nebraska Wesleyan was held to their lowest scoring total of the year with 68 points.  The Prairie Wolves shot only 33.3 percent from the field, 29.0 percent in the second half.  Bardsley led the way with 15 points with three 3-pointers.  Byron Thomspon scored 11 points with four assists.

Steve O'Neill led all scorers with 23 points hitting 4-6 from 3-point range.  Andrew Christen scored 19 and Kyle Nikkel had 15 as the Mustangs outscored the Prairie Wolves 50-26 in the paint.