MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team dropped a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest to St. Cloud State University, 88-78, Friday night at Nemzek Fieldhouse.
 
The Dragons fell to 6-21 overall, and 4-17 in NSIC play, while the Huskies improved to 21-6, 17-4 NSIC.
 
Senior guard Tanner Kretchman led the way for MSUM with 22 points and four assists, while junior forward Addison Park added 21 points and three rebounds. Sophomores Johnny Beeninga and Matt Anderson had ten points, each. Anderson also led the dragons with four rebounds. Junior guard Travaun Coad and junior forward Jake Johnson each recorded a block for the Dragons.
 
MSUM shot 51.0 percent (26-of-51) from the field compared to SCSU at 54.4 percent (31-of-57). The Huskies held a 30-24 edge in rebounds, while MSUM held a 15-2 advantage in bench points.
 
The Huskies got off to an early 5-0 lead, but a run by the Dragons, including points from Briton Bussman, Coad and Kretchman set MSUM ahead, 8-6. SCSU came back to lead 18-14 but a basket from Beeninga and a three-pointer by Kretchman set the Dragons back in the lead. It didn't last long as St. Cloud would quickly come back to lead, 47-32 going into halftime.
 
The Huskies led by as many as 24 points early into the second half. With under seven minutes to play, the Dragons went on a 16-9 to come within 10 points of SCSU. Although, the Dragons outscored the Huskies 46-41 in the second half, MSUM was unable to overcome the first half deficit, falling 88-78.
 
The Dragons will conclude regular season play at home Saturday when they host Minnesota Duluth at 6 p.m.
 
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight's loss, coupled with the St. Cloud St. home win last month, marks the first two-game season sweep over the Dragons since an 80-74 Husky win in St. Cloud on Nov. 27, 2007 and an 88-71 victory in Moorhead on Jan. 22, 2008.