MOORHEAD, Minn.— A tip-in by junior forward
Kaedrick Williams in the final seconds gave the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team an 80-78 win over St. Cloud State in Saturday night at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.
The Huskies had an opportunity to answer back with less than two seconds on the clock, but a steal by senior guard
Johnny Beeninga sealed the game.
The Dragons improve to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. St. Cloud State falls to 10-10 overall and 7-7 in the NSIC.
MSUM shot 49.2 percent (30-of-61) from the field and 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc compared to 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from three for the Huskies.
Sophomore guard
Gavin Baumgartner led the Dragons with 25 points. Williams finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Freshman forward
Dane Zimmer had nine points and led the Dragons on the glass with 10 rebounds. Beeninga had nine points and dished out a team-high four assists. Off the bench, junior forward
Joe Sevlie scored 10 points, while sophomore forward
Wyatt Hanson scored nine.
In the first half, the Dragons controlled the lead for the majority of the half. A three-pointer by Williams gave the Dragons a 28-21 lead with 7:37 remaining in the half. The Huskies battle to take and hold the lead for the final 3:47 in the first.
The Huskies continued to hold the lead in the second half. With 13:50 remaining, a three-pointer gave SCSU their largest lead of the game at 61-50. With 3:09 on the clock, a SCSU layup gave the Huskies a six-point lead, leading 78-72. The Dragons responded with an 8-0 run. With just a few seconds on the clock, Williams missed a jumper in the paint. Williams grabbed his own miss and tipped it in to give the Dragons an 80-72 lead with just 1.7 seconds left on the clock. The Huskies had to go the length of the court to answer, and after inbounding the ball, Beeninga intercepted a pass up court to seal the game.
The win over St. Cloud State gives the Dragons a weekend split. MSUM now looks ahead to next week, where they continue their homestand. The Dragons face off against Minnesota State on Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. The next day, MSUM hosts Concordia-St. Paul at 5:30 p.m.
Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons won for the second straight Saturday for the first time this year.
