BOX SCORE
MOORHEAD, Minn. – A historic night brought in a win for the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragon men's basketball team over the Upper Iowa Peacocks, 87-76, as the team played in front of a record breaking crowd. The home crowd also honored senior
Chad Thompson in his final home game.
Both loyal and new fans came to help 'Fill the Fieldhouse' Saturday night, as they set a new MSUM attendance record of 1,806 fans. The record breaks a three-year old mark of 1,736, set on Jan. 11, 2008, against Winona State. The current record applies to games since the NSIC expanded five years ago.
Not only was the attendance record set, a new career-record for blocks at MSUM was set by
Alex Novak in the first half of the game. He reached 112 blocks at the 15:54 mark, to tie the record that was held by Mike Bednarek since 1985. He set the new record just 30 seconds later. Novak reaches the mark in 50 games, while Bednarek played in 73 games in his career.
The Dragons took the lead for good with 12:03 in the first half on a jumper by
DJ Hamilton. MSU Moorhead went up by as much as 16 in the first half, and led at the break, 40-29.
The Dragons shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, including going 6-for-12 from long range.
Charlie Chapman went 3-for-4 in the first half from behind the three-point line. He ended the night with 15 points, all of which came from behind the arc.
The Peacocks trailed by double figures until 4:21 left in the game, when they trailed by eight, 70-62. UIU couldn't close the gap in the final minutes as MSUM picked up their 14th win of the year, moving their overall record to 14-10 and 11-9 in the league.
Dennis Williamson led the Dragons with 22 points. He grabbed eight boards, of the Dragons 34. Novak picked up nine boards while guard,
Jake Driscoll had six. Driscoll ended the game with 14 points. Hamilton had 13 points at the buzzer.
The Dragons will go on the road for the final weekend of regular season play on Feb. 24-25, as they will face Augustana (S.D.) and Wayne State (Neb.), respectively.
