Box Score
NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament Bracket
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Senior Alex Novak set the career record for rebounds to help the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team earn a 79-71 win over Minot State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday night at Alex Nemzek Hall in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM moved to 18-10 overall and 12-10 in the NSIC with the win. Dragon coach Chad Walthall has never had a losing conference season in 10 years as a collegiate head coach.

Minot State fell to 10-16 overall and 9-13 in the league.

The Dragons will host Southwest Minnesota State in the opening round of the NSIC tournament on Wednesday at 8 p.m. That contest will follow the MSUM women hosting Sioux Falls at 6 p.m. The men's tournament bracket can be found at the link above.

Novak, who needed five rebounds to break Walt Whitaker's career record of 1,017, finished the night with 15 rebounds along with 14 points to surpass the mark. He now has 1,028 career rebounds and also is MSUM's career record holder with 219 blocks.

Senior Anthony Tucker paced MSUM with 20 points. He was 9-of-10 from the line and hit several free throws in the final minute to help the Dragons ice the game.  Freshman Tyler Vaughan had 14 points, while freshman Ben Figini had 12 points. Senior Eric Olson had another solid game with eight points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Jordan Riewer led with four assists.

The Dragons set the tone from the outset and weathered a late Minot rally to improve to 11-3 at home this season.

MSUM opened the game on a 19-3 run over the first 4:22 and never relinquished the lead. Tucker and Vaughan hit two 3-pointers apiece and had six points each during the run.

Minot State only got as close as nine (26-17) before MSUM scored 11 points in a row -- with Vaughan accounting for six and Tucker three - to take a commanding 37-17 lead with 2:06 left in the half. MSUM led 39-21 at halftime.

The Dragons' biggest lead of the night came at 50-28 with 15:28 when Olson converted a layup. From there, they maintained a double-digit lead until the final two minutes, when Minot State made a run to cut the lead to 70-64.

MSUM weathered the storm, as Tucker was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final 53 seconds to secure the win.

Riewer added six points for MSUM, while sophomore Evan Holt had five. MSUM shot 50 percent (27-of-54) for the game, compared to 34.2 percent (25-of-73) for Minot.

The Dragons will host SMSU at 8 p.m. on Wednesday to open the NSIC tournament.

Note: The three Dragon seniors -- Tucker, Novak and Olson -- were honored prior to the game. They combined for 42 points, 30 rebounds and six assists during Saturday's win.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Seniors Eric Olson and Alex Novak appeared in the same game together for the 103rd time tonight. During this four year span, with Olson and Novak in the lineup, the Dragons have a record of 57-46 including tonight's win.