The Mount Mercy Mustangs did a little soul-searching during halftime against Grand View Monday night.

The Mustangs, coming off a 30-point loss at Graceland, played poorly during the first half against Grand View Monday with numerous lapses on defense and little intensity.

"We just had to toughen up," said junior Dennis McKinney. "Davion Watson, one of our seniors, talked to us and we finished it by saying,  'If we want to play in March, we can't play like we did in the first  half tonight.'"

Mount Mercy, determined to play better, owned the second half and collected an 80-65 victory over the Vikings in a Heart of America Conference game at the Hennessey Recreation Center.

The Mustangs went on a 17-0 run early in the second half for a 59-50  lead, with stiffer defense fueling the attack, and it ultimately turned into a 34-6 surge for a 20-point advantage at 76-56 with 5:34  left in the game.

Mount Mercy completely dominated Grand View during that 13-minute stretch with some of its best basketball of the season.

Coach Aaron Jennings said they talked about defense at halftime. "Grand View was carving us up in the first half," he said. "Just open shot after open shot after open shot."

It was all about effort, said Jennings.

"There's nothing else to it. 'How hard are we going to play?," he  wondered. "I talked to all the guys: 'Do you want to win? Do you want  to win?' I went all the way down the line."

There answer was yes.

"I said, 'Well, prove it,'" Jennings remarked. "And tonight in the  second half we proved it."

The Mustangs got a big boost off the bench during the 34-6 onslaught.  Tyler Kelley, a sophomore from Manchester, scored all 11 of his points  during that stretch. And Christian Reischauer, a
senior from Colo,  tossed in 10 points as the Mustangs took control.

RoyShawn Webb, a junior from Cedar Rapids, contributed eight points  during the surge, part of a spectacular performance that saw him make  11-of-13 shots from the field along with five rebounds, three assists  and two steals.

"He can score anytime he wants," said McKinney, who finished with 16 markers.

Grand View canned eight 3-pointers in the first half and led by 14  points midway through the stanza. Mount Mercy pulled with seven points  at halftime, then outscored the Vikings 45-23 in the second half.

Mount Mercy raised its records to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.  Watson snared 13 rebounds.

Grand View fell to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference. Colton  Kolowski led the Vikings with 16 points.

GRAND VIEW (65): Dallas Meinders 2-5 1-1 6, Drew Johnson 4-9 0-0 12,  Colton Kolowski 6-13 0-0 16, Ryan Miller 3-9 7-8 14, Landon Rash 3-10  0-0 7, Jay Chen 0-1 0-0 0, Eli Davy 1-4 2-3 4, Riley McCoy 0-3 0-0 0,  Josh Streeter 0-1 0-0 0, Connor Sonius 0-1 0-0 0, Ernest Docker 1-4  1-2 3, Jack Trudo 1-4 0-0 3, Kyle Haynes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-64 11-14  65.

MOUNT MERCY (80): Dennis McKinney 7-16 0-2 16, Davion Watson 1-3 1-2  4, Bailey Basala 3-7 0-0 8, RoyShawn Webb 11-13 0-0 22, Keishun Thomas  3-11 3-3 9, Tyler Kelley 3-4 4-4 11, Davarea Loggins 0-0 0-0 0,  Streeter McIlravy 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Reischauer 4-8 0-0 10, DJ  Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-62 8-11 80.

Halftime - Grand View 42, Mount Mercy 35. 3-point goals - Grand View  12-31 (Johnson 4-7, Kolowski 4-8, Meinders 1-2, Trudo 1-2, Miller 1-3,  Rash 1-4, Chen 0-1, Davy 0-1, Docker 0-1, McCoy 0-2), Mount Mercy 8-25  (McKinney 2-5, Basala 2-5, Reischauer 2-5, Watson 1-2, Kelley 1-2,  Thomas 0-6).