RAPID CITY, S.D. – Dragon men's basketball used an aggressive approach, notching 22 free throws, to defeat Black Hills State 86-72.
Jacob Beeninga scored his 1,000th career point in the win, becoming the second MSU Moorhead player to accomplish the milestone in as many days, joining
Dane Zimmer.
MSUM would open with a 10-7 lead thanks to eight combined points from
Jacob Beeninga and
Jamir Price. The Dragons forced three turnovers through the first five minutes of play to help get the lead. Black Hills State would even the score at 15 points nearing the midway point of the half.
Jacob Jennissen came off the bench to score six points to help MSUM stay in line with the Yellow Jackets. Jennissen had a sneaky double-double by game's end, collecting 11 points and 11 boards in 21 minutes.
Black Hills stats made seven of their first 11 field goals including three long range shots through 10 minutes of play. Beeninga and Price would once again help give the Dragons a lead, hitting back-to-back threes to put MSUM up 26-22. Beeninga would accomplish his quest for 1,000 career points with the Dragons leading 32-28 with just over four minutes remaining in the half. The junior would launch a deep three-point attempt that floated in. Beeninga would score 15 first half points as the Dragons led 37-30 with just over three minutes remaining. That seven-point advantage would shrink to five before the break with MSUM leading 41-36.
In the first half, MSUM shot 41.9 percent from the floor compared to Black Hills' 53.8 percent. The Yellow Jackets also shot 60 percent from long range while the Dragons still shot a respectable 57.1 percent from deep.
MSUM would continue to command the scoreboard early into the second half with Black Hills just behind the Dragons. Beeninga would connect on his seventh free throw of the contest with just under 14 minutes remaining to put the Dragon lead at five points (51-46). Back-to-back scores from
Gabe Myren put MSUM up nine shortly thereafter. Myren would score four straight again less than three minutes later to push that advantage to 61-48.
Black Hills State would cut that lead to six points with just over six minutes left before
Dane Zimmer connected on a three-pointer to keep the momentum with MSUM. Zimmer would score again a few minutes later to bring the lead to 12 points. With just over three minutes remaining, MSUM was only shooting 37.9 percent from the floor compared to a 54.2 percent mark from Black Hills. Nevertheless, MSUM was able to earn 10 free throw attempts to that point in the half. Though the Dragons have been inconsistent at times from the charity stripe, they buried eight of those 10 attempts.
With just over two minutes remaining, Zimmer would hit another long range shot to put the Dragon lead at 13 points. Thanks to some beautiful court vision from
Ja'Kair Sanchez,
Jamir Price nailed a baseline three on the next Dragon possession to keep the hot streak alive. Sanchez would get a downhill lane to the basket on the ensuing MSUM possession, resulting in a pretty lay in off the glass. With less than a minute remaining, MSUM led 83-72.
The late surge from the Dragons coupled with some late free throw conversions helped lift MSUM to a 86-72 win. Black Hills State finished the game with a 54.2 field goal percentage. However, MSUM converted 22 of 29 free throw attempts and only committed two turnovers all game.
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MSUM (4-0) will travel for their final pair of non-conference tests next weekend against Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech. Action is set to begin against the Wildcats at noon on Saturday.
