Box Score
ABERDEEN, S.D. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team lost its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener on Saturday falling to Northern State, 69-66, at the Barnett Center in Aberdeen, S.D.

MSUM (5-1, 0-1 NSIC) led 59-58 with 2:28 left in the game but the Wolves (5-2, 1-0 NSIC) went on a decisive 10-2 run to build a 68-61 lead in the final 10 seconds. The Dragons got five points from senior Anthony Tucker in the final seconds to cut the gap to three but fell short.

Tucker led the Dragons with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while sophomore Jordan Riewer added 13 points and four assists. Freshman Brady Wohler added a career-high nine points off the bench, while senior Alex Novak had eight points to go with 10 rebounds.

The Dragons trailed 26-20 at one point in the first half but went on a 13-1 run which carried over into the early moments of the second half to take a 33-27 lead with 17:27 left. Junior Taylor Filipek had four points during the run, while freshman Ben Figini had a three-point play.

MSUM led 42-34 with 13:26 left when Wohler hit a jumper.  The Dragons led 46-38 before the Wolves went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to one with 9:45 left, and from there, the the game was close.

A Novak layup with 2:28 left gave the Dragons a 58-57 lead, but the Wolves came back with the key run to take a 68-61 lead.

Figini had seven points off the bench for MSUM. Riewer added six rebounds.

The Dragons shot 54.8 percent in the second half after shooting 32 percent in the first half to finish at 44.6 percent (25-of-56). Northern State shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56).

MSUM is at Minot State on Friday.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Despite the loss tonight, the Dragons have beat Northern State six out of the last nine times. Prior to this run, Northern State had beaten the Dragons 11 times in a row.