MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minnesota State University Moorhead got out to an early lead and never looked back on the way to an 87-68 win over the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth (4-15, 3-10 NSIC) on Friday night. Senior forward led all Dragons with 20 points.

 With the St. Cloud loss to Northern State, MSUM is now alone at the top of the NSIC standings at 11-2. The Dragons have a one game lead over St. Cloud State, Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa. MSUM improved to 16-3 overall.

 How it happened…
Minnesota Duluth was the first to get on the scoreboard, but a 17-4 run over the opening eight minutes gave MSUM the lead it needed to cruise to a victory. The Dragons pushed their lead to 16 points, but went into halftime up 14 points, 41-27. MSUM scored 20 points in the paint in the first half, while Ayob and sophomore forward Addison Park each had a team-high nine points. The Dragons shot 41.7 percent from the field in the first half (15-of-36).

MSUM opened the second half on a 12-6 run, and built its largest lead of the game up 64-42 with 11:48 to play. The Bulldogs found some momentum, using a 16-2 run pulling the game within single digits, now trailing 66-58. After a few Dragon substitutions, MSUM went on a 12-3 run thanks in part to points from senior guard Aaron Lien, senior guard Jon Doss and freshman forward Matt Anderson.

 The Dragons out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-31, and finished the game with 15 assists to eight turnovers. MSUM went 33-of-65 from the field shooting 50.8 percent, while holding UMD to 25-of-59 from the field (42.4 percent).

Impact Performances…
Senior forward Ayob Ayob scored a team-high 20 points off 8-of-15 from the field. The senior went 4-for-8 from behind the arc, collected six rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in 26 minutes of playing time.

Sophomore forward Addison Park went 6-for-7 from the field scoring 13 points in just 15 minutes of play before fouling out. Park had six rebounds, two blocks and one assist.

Senior guard Aaron Lien added 10 points for the Dragons, while junior guard Tanner Kretchman had seven points and nine assists with no turnovers.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game…
Since suffering a 70-67 home loss to the University of Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 8, 2014, the Dragons have won 37 of their last 40 games over NSIC North opponents.

Up Next…
MSUM continues its home stand with a NSIC North matchup with St. Cloud State. Tip-off is slated for 6:15 p.m. in Nemzek Fieldhouse.