MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team dropped an 81-58 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game to Minnesota State University, Mankato on the road Saturday.

MSUM fell to 4-9 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC, while MSU improved to 10-2, 6-0 NSIC.

Sophomore guard Johnny Beeninga and junior guard Briton Bussman each scored 11 points for the Dragons, a career-high for Bussman. Addison Park had nine points, two blocks and led MSUM in rebounds with seven. Guards Tanner Kretchman and Travaun Coad scored eight points each. Beeninga led with three assists, while Kretchman and Joe Sevlie each had two.

MSUM shot 38.5 percent (20-of-52) compared to the Mavericks at 46.5 percent (33-of-71). MSU also held a 44-31 edge in rebounds over the Dragons.

Beeninga had six first-half points as the game was tied 29-29 going into halftime. The Dragons led by as much as five points with 6:54 to play in the first half.

The Mavericks went on an 8-0 run to begin the second half, breaking the tie. From there, the Dragons came within four points of MSU early in the second half. The Mavericks would go on an 18-5 run over the next eight minutes to pull away from the Dragons, leading them to an 81-58 victory over MSUM.

The Dragons will play at Concordia-St. Paul Sunday to conclude the weekend with game time is set for 4 p.m.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight was the first time in five outings that the Dragons did not shoot at least 50% from the field. The last time the Dragons failed to hit this mark was on Dec. 2 at Minot where they shot 41% in a 78-65 setback.