MOORHEAD, Minn.--Junior forward Isaac Sevlie did it all for the Dragons on Saturday night, leading the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team to a 71-65 win over Winona State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The Red Wing, Minn. native sang the national anthem before the game, then proceeded to set career highs in points, rebounds, and free throws made with 21, eight, and 11, respectively.

Saturday was also a big night for senior guard Jordan Riewer, who passed Ralph Western as the all-time assists leader at MSUM. Riewer had eight in assists in the game to bring his career total to 345, surpassing Western's total of 339 from 1988-92.

With the win, MSUM improves to 16-1 on the season and 7-1 in the conference while Winona State drops to 5-7 and 2-6 in the NSIC.

MSUM struggled shooting the basketball in Saturday's game, hitting only 32.9 percent (23-of-70) from the field and 22.2 percent (8-of-36) from the three-point line, much lower than its season averages of 51.2 percent from the field and 43.9 percent from the three-point line. What the Dragons lacked on the offensive end, they made up for on the defensive end, outrebounding the Warriors 45-36 and while forcing nine turnovers in the game.

Sevlie led the team in points with 21, rebounds with eight, and blocks with two. The 6-foot-9 power forward was also 11-of-13 from the free throw line in the game. Riewer lead the team in assists with eight and had nine points. Sophomore guard Aaron Lien contributed 16 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field for the Dragons.

MSUM's lethal combination of Riewer and Sevlie got the action started, with Riewer finding Sevlie for the Dragons' first two baskets of the night. Winona State led 15-12 with 11:55 left in the first half before MSUM responded with a 13-0 run to grab a 10 point lead at 25-15. The lead was the largest of the night for MSUM. Senior forward Urbane Bingham had four points in the run to lead the Dragons. The Warriors battled back however and cut the lead to three on an Isiah Gray layup to make the score 31-28 heading into the break.

Down seven in the second half, the Warriors went on a 19-5 stretch between the 12:49 and 7:06 marks of the second half to snag a 60-53 lead. Riley Bambenek had nine points in the stretch to lead Winona State.  The Dragons responded with a 10-0 run of their own after that point, including a three-pointer from junior guard Evan Holt that gave MSUM the lead for good at 61-60 with 3:49 left to play in the game. Junior guard Tyler Vaughan sank two free throws with 14 seconds to play to round out the scoring at 71-65.

MSUM will hit the road next week to take on Mary on Jan. 9 and Minot State on Jan. 10.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons also beat Winona State here in Moorhead last year (82-80) on Feb. 1 making tonight's victory their second consecutive regular season victory over the Warriors. The last time they accomplished this feat was when the Dragons posted a 113-81 win over Winona St. in Moorhead on Feb. 24, 1996 behind Bret Beeson's 33 points and then an 83-82 home win on Jan. 25, 1997.