The Morthland men and women basketball teams hosted the Blue Mountain College Toppers in a Monday night doubleheader at Rend Lake College. The Lady Patriots fell to BMC 94-38, while the Morthland men could not hold off the Toppers (3-4), falling 81-76.

The Lady Patriots (0-6) were led by Shayly Wilce and Jade Vaughn who both chipped in 14 points. Junior forward Ashley Slack scored 8 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Pats.

The Morthland College men’s basketball team came out sluggish after the first six minutes trailing the Toppers of Blue Mountain, Miss. 10-2, but Eldorado native Will Carmickle led the charge for the Patriots scoring 19 of this 32 points in the first half to give Morthland a 46-39 lead going into the locker room.

Morthland allowed BMC to score the first 8 points of the second half to take a 47-46 lead. The undersized Patriots kept battling in the second half but could not stop BMC from driving to the basket for easy scores. Morthland allowed 18 offensive rebounds, 10 of which came in the second half, allowing the Toppers to capitalize with 19 second chance points.

Will Carmickle scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Morthland while freshman Roby Boatright was the only other Patriot in double-digits with 10 points.

“They really jumped on us early in the second half after we battled back at the end of the first to gain the lead,” said head coach Rich Herrin. “They are a heck of a team for only having two wins this season, and they are going to win a lot more.”

The Morthland men and women will be back in action Dec. 1, when they travel to McKenzie, Tenn. to take on Bethel College.