SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team saw its season come to an end on Saturday with a 69-54 loss to No. 10 Northwest Missouri State in the NCAA Central Region Tournament at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
MSUM, which saw an eight-game winning streak snapped with the loss, ended the season at 19-12 while Northwest Missouri State improved to 29-5.
Senior forward
Gatdoar Kueth, playing his final game as a Dragon, paced MSUM with 17 points. He was 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from three. Junior
Gavin Baumgartner added 12 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard
Gabe Myren had 10 points while junior guard
Lorenzo McGhee had three assists.
MSUM shot 38.8 percent (19-of-49) for the game compared to 48.2 percent (27-of-56) for Northwest Missouri State. The Bearcats had a 35-25 edge in rebounds.
NW Missouri State's big edge was points in the paint, as the Bearcats had a 46-24 advantage in that category.
MSUM was down 20-14 at one point in the first half but battled back to take a 22-21 lead with 4:26 to go with an 8-1 run. Kueth hit a pair of threes during that stretch while junior guard
Bryce Irsfeld had a bucket.
Kueth had 15 points in the first half, but MSUM was down 27-24 at the break as both defenses clamped down in the opening 20 minutes.
A Myren basket just 2:31 into the second half tied the game at 31-31, but the Bearcats responded with an 18-6 run to build a 49-37 lead.
MSUM got no closer than 10 the rest of the contest.
McGhee had six rebounds and six points as well for MSUM.
Note: MSUM has played in six NCAA tournaments since 2011-12, all coming under Head Coach
Chad Walthall. Only two other NSIC schools have reached the NCAA as many times during that stretch, and that's Augustana and Minnesota State Mankato.
