Mount Mercy University - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Dahm ready for new venture with Mustangs

The Mount Mercy baseball team is scheduled to play its first 28 games on the road this season, beginning Jan. 26 with a four-game series against Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla.

New coach Jack Dahm cannot wait to get started, regardless of how manyroad games they play.

"I don't care," he said. "I'm coaching baseball instead of selling flooring, so I'm happy to be on the road for 28 games. Nothing against selling flooring, but this is a lot better."

Dahm sold flooring after being dismissed as the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes following the 2013 campaign. He took a year off from being a head coach, but now he's back, this time at the NAIA level instead of the Big Ten.

"Baseball is baseball," he said. "It's teaching kids, it's being around kids. These guys have been really open-minded. We're trying to change the culture here."

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Mount Mercy men top Penn in OT

OSKALOOSA – The 18th-ranked Mount Mercy men’s basketball team scored 16 points in overtime to beat William Penn, 91-86, Saturday at Penn Gymnasium.

Six Mustangs scored in double digits with Kyle Lamaak leading the way with 26 points.

Ben Struss had 13 points and seven rebounds. Ian Matos scored 12 points. Dondre Osborne had 11 points and eight assists. James Boonstoppel also had 11 points and Da’Quoan Moore contributed 10 points.

William Penn led 35-26 at halftime, but Mount Mercy fought back in the second half. Lamaak tied the game with a layup with 42 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

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Mustang women rally by William Penn

OSKALOOSA – The Mount Mercy women’s basketball team rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat William Penn 74-68 Saturday at Penn Gymnasium.

Christa Oldham went 18-of-21 at the free-throw line in the second half and finished with 24 points for Mount Mercy (10-11).

Alisa Weiland added 14 points and Makenzie Zeitler had 10 rebounds.

Kaite Golomski and Vanessa Kieres each had 18 points for William Penn (8-11).

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Lamaak finds good fit with Mustangs

Kyle Lamaak played on some good intramural basketball teams at the University of Northern Iowa, but the Kennedy grad missed the real thing.

He's found what he was looking for at Mount Mercy.

Lamaak hit 8-for-9 shots and scored 18 points Wednesday night as the 18th-ranked Mustangs bounced Viterbo, 85-73, in a Midwest Collegiate Conference game at the Hennessey Recreation Center.

Lamaak graduated from Kennedy in 2011 and spent 2 1/2 years at UNI, but he yearned for serious competition.

"I really missed the game," he said. "I went to school for awhile and I just really missed it."

Mount Mercy Coach Paul Gavin tried to recruit Lamaak at Kennedy four years ago. So when Lamaak decided he wanted to play college basketball, he gave Gavin a call.

"He said there's a spot for me to play, so I jumped on that," he said.

Lamaak spent one semester at Kirkwood last winter, preparing for his official transfer to Mount Mercy this fall. He's a fourth-year junior with the Mustangs with another full year of basketball to go.

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