Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- A 13-0 second-half run proved to be the difference as Minnesota State University Moorhead topped Bemidji State, 77-68 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM improved to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the NSIC with the win, while Bemidji State fell to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the NSIC. The Dragons are tied with Winona State at 4-0 atop the NSIC standings.

Once again, a balanced attack paced the Dragons, led by 16 points from junior guard Jordan Riewer. Senior guard Tarell Clark and junior forward Urbane Bingham had 12 points each, while senior forward Taylor Filipek and sophomore guard Tyler Vaughan each collected nine. All 11 Dragon players who saw time scored, and MSUM's bench outscored Bemidji State's by a 39-1 margin.

Clark led with seven rebounds, while junior guard Prescott Williams has six rebounds, while Riewer led with three assists. Sophomore guard Ngijol Songolo had a game-high four steals.

MSUM shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) for the game, compared to 48.1 percent (25-of-52) by the Beavers. MSUM had just nine turnovers while Bemidji State had 15, which led to 17 Dragon points.

The Dragons, who led by as many as 12 early in the second half, saw their lead shrink to 52-50 with 9:11 left. At that point, the Dragons went on the decisive 13-0 run. Redshirt freshman Matt Nelson led the run with five points, including a three-pointer, while Riewer and Vaughan both drained threes.

Bemidji State closed the gap to 75-68 with 28 seconds left, but Bingham hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to push the lead back to nine, and the Beavers never got closer the rest of the way.

The Dragons faced an 11-3 deficit 4:53 into the contest as they opened a frigid 1-of-13 from the field but their defense kept them close.

Down 13-5 with 13:37 left, MSUM scored 11 points in a row over a span of 3:36 to take a 16-13 lead. Bingham and Clark each scored four points during that run to provide the spark off the bench for the Dragons as they regained the lead.

The Dragons forced seven Bemidji State turnovers during the first 10 minutes of the game.

MSUM pushed the lead to 22-15 after a jumper by freshman Aaron Lien with 8:25 left.

Later in the half,  Filipek drained a three-pointer to give the Dragons a 32-22 lead with 4:36 left. The Dragons took a 37-28 lead into halftime.

Vaughan, Clark and Bingham each had six points in the first half for MSUM. The Dragons shot 30.6 percent from the field (11-of-36)  in the first half but attempted 13 more field goals than the Beavers.  MSUM had a 22-19 edge in rebounds and committed just two first-half turnovers, compared to nine for the Beavers. The Dragon bench outscored Bemidji State 23-0 in the first half.

MSUM wraps up the weekend against Minnesota Crookston on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. The game follows a pair of Moorhead High School games vs. St. Michael-Albertville (girls game at 2 p.m. and boys game at 4 p.m.).  Fans can attend all four games on the day at Nemzek with the purchase of one ticket to any of the games.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons are now 7-1 versus Bemidji St. under Chad Walthall. This includes a perfect 4-0 record at home, 1-0 in Rochester in the NSIC semi-finals two seasons ago, and 2-1 in Bemidji. The Dragons' only loss during this time frame was a 76-75 overtime setback on January 25, 2013. Meanwhile, the Beavers have a record of 56-31 (.644 winning percentage) versus all of their other opponents during this three-plus year stretch.