MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team could not dig themselves out of a first half scoring drought Monday night against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference power Minnesota State University-Mankato as the Mavericks defeated the Dragons 86-74 at the Taylor Center.
The Dragons came into the Taylor Center Monday night to face a Maverick team that was tied atop the NSIC for first place with the University of Minnesota Duluth and ranked sixteenth in the national NCAA Division II standings. With a tough test ahead, the Dragons came out ready to play against a Maverick team littered with veteran players.
After the Mavericks made the first basket of the game, the Dragon's
Alex Novak slammed down the next bucket to get his team rolling.
Andrew VanHavermaet would make the most of his first start of the 2010-11 season by hitting his first two three-point attempts.
Charlie Chapman would also add a big three-pointer early to put the Dragons up 11-5 at the 17 minute mark.
The Mavericks would answer quickly as Jefferson Mason hit a three-pointer of his own and Marcus Hill would add another jumper to bring the Dragon lead down to one point with just under 16 minutes left in the first half.
The Dragons would make another push after sinking two more shots from behind the arc from Chapman and
DJ Hamilton, moving the lead up to five at the 13:16 mark, 12-17.
From that moment on, the Mavericks assembled a critical 23-2 run over the next eight minutes to take a 35-19 lead with 5:53 remaining till halftime.
After sustaining an elbow to the nose,
Jake Driscoll would return to the floor to score seven of the Dragon's next 11 points to end the half down 45-29.
The Dragons showed poise in the second half, outscoring the Mavericks 45-41, but the first half deficit proved too much to overcome.
The Dragon's
Tarell Clark would find eventually find his shot in the second half, scoring all ten of his points in the half. Chapman would lead all Dragons with 15 points and Novak would round out the Dragon's in double digits with 13 points.
The seniors for MSU-Mankato would lead the Mavericks to the 86-74 victory, including a massive 27 point, seven rebound performance from Mason.
The Dragons now sit tied at sixth in the NSIC with Upper Iowa at 3-3. Their next contest is against Southwest Minnesota State University Tuesday night at 8 p.m. in Marshall, Minn.
