FAIRBANKS, AK. -- After a brief slow start, the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team dominated every facet of Saturday's game against Alaska Fairbanks to win 74-52 and capture the Alaska Invitational title by going 3-0. The Dragons fell behind 25-12 early in the game, but responded with a 39-7 run to lead 51-32 with 15:11 left in the second half. MSUM never looked back from that point, leading by double digits for the majority of the second half, coasting to its third victory in as many days.
MSUM continued its perfect start of the season, improving to 5-0 after the victory. It is the fourth time in
Chad Walthall's five years as head coach that the Dragons have started 5-0.
The Dragons hit 14 three-pointers in the game and shot 46.6 percent (27-58) from the field. MSUM also forced nine turnovers and blocked five shots in the win.
Senior guard
Jordan Riewer set a career-high with 26 points, hitting six-of-eight three pointers while adding six assists. Riewer was named Tournament MVP for his three-game performance, averaging 21.3 points, 4.0rebounds, and 5.6 assists in the Invitational.
Sophomore guard
Aaron Lien chipped in 17 points and six rebounds. Three other Dragons had six rebounds to lead the team; junior guard
Prescott Williams, freshman guard
Tanner Kretchman, and senior forward
Urbane Bingham. Bingham was named to the All-Tournament team, averaging 8.3 points and 3.3 rebounds over the three games. Junior forward
Isaac Sevlie added three blocks in the game.
At the 9:51 mark of the first half, the Dragons trailed 25-12 when head coach
Chad Walthall called a timeout to regroup the Dragons. After the timeout, MSUM scored 26 points in the final 10 minutes of the half to lead 38-32 at the break. In that stretch, the Dragons hit six three-pointers. Riewer hit three in the run, while Kretchman, junior guard
Ngijol Songolo, and Lien all hit one.
The Dragons came out firing again in the second half, opening the half on a 13-0 run. Junior guard
Tyler Vaughan and Riewer had five points each in the stretch. MSUM's largest lead of the game came at 10:57 when Riewer hit a three-pointer to put the Dragons up 62-38. Kretchman scored the final points of the game on a three-pointer to make the score 74-52.
MSUM will return to Minnesota and face cross-town Concordia-Moorhead on Tuesday night. Tip-off from Concordia's Memorial Auditorium is set for 7 p.m. central time.
