Lourdes saw its 2023-2024 season come to an end on Friday evening as the Gray Wolves fell 93-78 in the first round of the NAIA National Championships held inside Rosen Verdoorn Sports Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
 
"I want to give a ton of credit for what our seniors have done for our program over the last few years," head coach Dennis Hopson said afterwards.  "Tonight, we just didn't defend the way we should have."
 
An 8-0 run early in the game allowed Morningside to build a 14-7 lead five minutes into the game and the Gray Wolves were never able to regain an advantage after that.  After trailing by as many as eight early, Lourdes fought back to within one, 26-25, with just over seven minutes to play before halftime.
 
The Mustangs would score the next seven points to push the lead back to eight on the way to a 49-38 lead at intermission.
 
Out of the locker room, Morningside (22-9) used a 13-2 run to extend its lead to 22, 64-42, with 15 minutes to play before the Gray Wolves battled back.  A 14-3 run, capped by a jumper by Joey Holifield (Toledo, Ohio/Cardinal Stritch H.S.) cut the Lourdes deficit to single digits, 69-60, with 8:46 remaining, but that would be as close as the Gray Wolves would get the rest of the way.
 
Jackie Harris (Toledo, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales H.S.) led Lourdes (22-7) with 29 points eight rebounds, and four blocked shots while Shaunn Monroe (Charleston, W. Va./Fairborn [Ohio] H.S.) added 21 points.  Holifield finished with 14 points as the Gray Wolves shot 49.3 from the floor.
 
Joey Skoff led all scorers with 38 points for Morningside, going 11-of-15 from the field and 15-of-16 from the free throw line.  Ely Doble added 23 points and eight assists.
 
The Mustangs shot 58.3% from the floor and were 21-of-26 (80.8%) from the free throw line while Lourdes went just 1-of-7 (14.3%) from the charity stripe.  Morningside also out scored the Gray Wolves 40-22 in the paint.