KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A debuting
Ja'Kair Sanchez netted 20 points in 21 minutes, including a run of four straight second half three-pointers, to help lift MSU Moorhead men's basketball over Missouri Southern in the 2023-24 season opener. The Dragons defeated the Lions 99-81 from Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
It took both squads roughly 10 minutes to shake the rust off in the season opener. For MSUM, they would opt to slow the game down in the early going by drawing seven Lion fouls in the first 10 minutes of action. The Dragons would knock down six of seven free throws on those fouls, including three from
Jamir Price, to lead 22-18 midway through the first half.
Jacob Beeninga added in a pair of triples in that same stretch to help keep MSUM in front.
Both teams would close the half with their offenses operating at high efficiency. The Dragons commanded a stretch that saw them make four of five field goals, paced by back-to-back buckets from
Dane Zimmer. Missouri Southern would keep pace with that run, making three of four three-pointers to remain within five points.
The Dragons would jump out to their largest lead late in the first half thanks to a pair of baskets from
Gabe Myren and another from
Ja'Kair Sanchez. The stretch forced a Missouri Southern timeout with MSUM leading 36-29. A three-pointer from
Eddie Beeninga stretched the Dragon advantage to 10 points with just over two minutes remaining in the frame. MSUM would expand that lead to 12 points before the break as the elder Beeninga netted a jumper with time nearing expiration. The Dragons led 45-33 at the break behind 13 points from
Jacob Beeninga.
MSUM shot 48.5 percent from the floor in the first half and scored 22 of their 45 points in the paint. The Dragon defense was active as well through the first 20 minutes, forcing 12 Lion turnovers and tallying 20 points from those takeaways.
To begin the second half, MSUM would jump out on a quick 8-2 run to push their lead to 53-35. Beeninga scored six straight points in the flurry, which forced a Missouri Southern timeout with just over 17 minutes remaining. To that point in the game, Beeninga had scored 19 points on seven of 12 shooting. Beeninga and Zimmer would notch back-to-back three-pointers following the timeout as the Dragon lead ballooned to 24 points (61-37). Through the first six minutes of the half, MSUM shot 63.6 percent from the floor to Missouri Southern's 28.6 clip.
MSUM would only continue their onslaught as
Ja'Kair Sanchez netted a pair of threes to bring his game total to 14 points. Beeninga would add another triple, bringing the Dragon total to five for the half (on five attempts). Sanchez would make another pair of long range shots to move the lead to 78-52 with MSUM remaining perfect from beyond the arc to that point (7-7).
The Dragons would coast from there as Beeninga and Sanchez combined to score 49 points for MSUM. Sanchez scored 20 points in just 21 minutes of action with the Dragons finishing the game with a 52.2 percent mark from the floor and a 50 percent clip from long distance. While Missouri Southern would shoot an equally respectable 52.6 percent mark for the game, MSUM would force 17 turnovers in the victory.
Top Dragons
Up Next
MSUM (1-0) is back on the floor inside Municipal Auditorium on Sunday as they face off with Washburn University for a noon tilt.
