Box Score MOORHEAD, Minn. – The big duo of Alex Novak and Jake Lindfors led the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team to a 6-0 record by defeating Minot State, 68-60, Tuesday night in Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.

Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse cheered on the Dragons during the opening tip-off that the Beavers would ultimately take.  1 minute and 30 seconds into the game Minot State took the lead and gave MSUM their first deficit of the season.  Points in the paint and a three-pointer set a 9-0 run for the Beavers as they held the Dragons scoreless through the first five minutes.  Jake Lindfors used his size and strength to push his way into the paint to record MSUM's first points of the night.  The shot from Lindfors sparked a run of their own for the Dragons.  Andrew VanHavermaet hit a three from the right baseline to cap this run at 12-0. 

To a chant of “defense” from Nemzek on-goers, Minot State's Josh Johnson hit a long two to score the first points in four minutes for the Beavers.  Xavier Reed took control of the paint with 8:40 left in the half by putting down a basket and tying the game at 14.  Driving into the lane, minutes later, DJ Hamilton turned around from his opposition to hit a fade away jumper, to put the score at 20-14 in favor of the Dragons.  Following a couple Beaver scores at the four minute mark, Lindfors took the ball down the court and lasered the ball into the paint where Novak dunked it with authority.  Adam Randall brought the Beavers back to tie the game with a couple field goal shots.  The Dragons came back with a basket of their own and tried running the half out. A missed shot from Novak led to a half-court buzzer beater shot from Randall that hit the backboard and in.  MSUM head coach Chad Walthall, upset with the call that the basket would count, gave his thoughts to the ref and earned his team a technical foul.

Berhe opened up the second half with two free throw shots due to Walthall's technical foul. A touch shot in the paint from Lindfors scored the first points of the half for MSUM, two minutes in. Back and forth scoring paced the beginning of the second half. The lead stayed within two for the Beavers for the first seven minutes.  A turnover from Josh Johnson allowed the Dragons to take the lead off a Jake Driscoll three-pointer. Driscoll, in pursuit of 1,000 career points, is now 14 away from the milestone.  Following a Johnson basket for the Beavers, Xavier Reed passed the ball behind his back in the paint to a wide-open Novak.  Novak, going up for the dunk, was fouled by Johnson and split the free throws to tie the game at 42.

Following the 11th tie of the game, Hamilton grabbed a defensive rebound and sprinted down court to be fouled.  Hamilton put down the two free throws to grab the lead again for the Dragons at 46-44.  Back and forth scoring again came from the teams until Novak was fouled on a dunk attempt.  The Dragon junior made the second of two free throws to put the Dragons up by one, 49-48 with eight minutes remaining in the game.  Cheers from Nemzek Noize arose coming out of a Minot State timeout.  The cheers continued seconds later as Hamilton drove to the right side of the court, putting up a touch shot while being fouled.  Hamilton put down his fifth free throw of the night to extend the Dragons lead to 52-48. 

Three minutes later, Jonas Pollard took a dish from Berhe and sank a three-point shot to cut the lead to one point, but this would be the beginning of the end for the visitors.  Novak would grab an offensive board to put in the second chance points plus a foul.  Berhe answered the Dragons scoring as he took a screen at the top of the key and converted a field goal from three-point land to cut the lead to 61-58.  The late three would not be enough for the Beavers as good ball control the rest of the way gave the Dragons a 68-60 victory.

The Dragons shot 19-of-51 (37.3%) on the night.  The team only hit 3 three-pointers on the night but made 27-of-33 free-throws.  MSUM totaled 39 rebounds and totaled 12 points of bench scoring. 

The Beavers shot 21-of-58 (36.2%) from the field while grabbing 34 rebounds.  Turnovers and lack of bench scoring plagued the Beavers on the night.

The Papa John's Player of the Game Alex Novak recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.  Jake Lindfors led Dragons scorers with 17 points and was 1 rebound short of a double-double.  Guard DJ Hamilton recorded 14 points and 5 rebounds.

The Beavers Josh Johnson led all scorers with 19. Johnson also brought down five rebounds and assisted two scores.  Adam Randall scored 17 points and rebounded 4 balls.

Steve d'Eustachio's stat of the game: The Dragon men have won seven non-conference games in a row at home and sport a 36-5 non-conference home record the past ten years.  Their last non-conference loss at Nemzek was Nov. 24, 2009 against current men's head coach Chad Walthall's alma mater, Concordia College. 

Box Score