ABERDEEN, S.D. – The No. 4-ranked Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team outscored Northern State 49-32 in the second half to earn an 82-71 win over the Wolves on Saturday night in Aberdeen, S.D. MSUM has now won 13 straight games.
The Dragons are now 13-1 overall and 6-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while Northern State fell to 6-6 overall and 2-4 in the league.
Five Dragons scored in double figures, led by senior forward
Isaac Sevlie, who had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard
Tanner Kretchman had 16 points while senior guard
Ngijol Songolo had 13. Junior guard
Aaron Lien had 11 points and junior forward
Ayob Ayob had 10. Senior guard
Tyler Vaughan had five assists while Kretchman had four.
MSUM shot 46.7 percent (28-of-60), compared to 38.5 percent (25-of-65) for the Wolves. The Dragons had a 44-35 edge in rebounds.
The Dragons trailed by six at halftime, and were down 44-37 with 17:38 left in the game. They fought back to tie the game at 50-50 after a 13-6 run over a span of five minutes. Lien was the catalyst with five points while Ayob converted a three-point play.
Northern State pushed the lead to 55-51 with 11:03 left, but a 7-0 Dragon run – sparked by a three from Kretchman – allowed MSUM to take a 58-55 lead with 9:56 left.
The Wolves hit a pair of foul shots to cut the Dragon lead to 69-65 with 5:17 left. However, back-to-back threes from Ayob and Kretchman provided the knockout punch in the final five minutes, pushing the MSUM lead to 75-65 with 4:21 left. The Wolves didn't get closer than seven the rest of the game.
Ayob added four assists and two blocks for MSUM. Freshman forward
Addison Park had six points and five rebounds.
MSUM faces Crossroads College at 3 p.m. on Sunday in a nonconference game.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons have now won five of their last eight contests at Northern State with tonight's victory going back to the 2008-09 season. Prior to this stretch, the Dragons had lost their previous eight consecutive tries in Aberdeen including the 2007 and the 2008 NSIC playoffs.
