CROOKSTON Minn., — The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team built a big first-half lead on its way to a 78-62 road win at Minnesota Crookston Saturday at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston, Minn.
MSUM is now 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's North Division while UMC fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the division.
Big Game for Kueth
Senior guard Gatdoar Kueth made his first start as a Dragon and made the most of it, pouring in a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 24 minutes of action. He was 3-of-4 from downtown.
Further Inside the Numbers
Junior guard Lorenzo McGhee had his first double-double as a Dragon with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Bryce Irsfeld had 14 points and a team-high four assists while sophomore forward Dane Zimmer had 11 points and six rebounds.
MSUM shot 47.7 percent (31-of-65) from the field compared to 43.6 percent (24-of-55) for UMC. The Dragons dominated the glass as well, out rebounding the Golden Eagles 41-27.
Turnovers the Difference
MSUM had a 24-7 edge in points off of turnovers in the win.
Leading the Whole Way
MSUM never trailed in the game, opening the contest on a 7-0 run thanks to a three from Kueth and baskets from Irsfeld and McGhee.
UMC was within 15-6 but the Dragons extended the lead thanks to a 17-6 run. Irsfeld had seven points during that stretch while Zimmer had five and senior forward Joe Sevlie, who had eight total points off the bench had four. MSUM took a 43-28 lead into halftime.
The Golden Eagles were within nine in the second half but got no closer.
Dragon Defense Steps Up
MSUM held the Golden Eagles without a point from the 6:59 mark of the second half until there was 1:32 left — a span of 5:27. MSUM went on an 8-0 run during that time to seal the win.
Siman Says
Junior guard Siman Sem had a solid performance off the bench for MSUM. He had a team-high three steals to go along with four points and three rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
Up Next
MSUM is scheduled to host Bemidji State next weekend in Moorhead. Friday's game is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's is set for 2 p.m.
