MARYVILLE, Mo. – Fourth-seeded MSU Moorhead overcame a 16-point second half deficit to push fifth-seeded Southern Nazarene to overtime. Yet, the Dragons fell short in the extra session, falling 67-64 in the first round of the NCAA Central Region Tournament.
 
Jaden Stanley-Williams scored five points to give the Dragons a 7-5 lead early in the first half. However, the Crimson Storm would respond, netting two of their first three long range attempts to take a 10-7 lead with under 16 minutes remaining in the half. Southern Nazarene would proceed to make three more three-pointers over the next four minutes to take a 23-11 lead. MSUM began the game making just one of their first four three-pointers. 
 
MSUM would go on a quick 9-2 spurt highlighted by four points from Lorenzo McGhee and a pretty floater from Trever Kaiser for an and-one. With under eight minutes left, the Dragons trailed 27-20. The Crimson Storm would hit their sixth three of the half to push their lead back up to double figures, 32-20. 
 
In total, Southern Nazarene would make eight of 10 three-pointers in the half to lead 44-30 at the intermission. MSUM shot just one of seven from distance through the first 20 minutes while the Crimson Storm connected on 64.3 percent of their shots. Dane Zimmer and Lorenzo McGhee each had eight points for the Dragons. 
 
MSUM would begin to stir early in the second half in an attempt to trim the Crimson Storm lead to single digits. Jacob Beeninga would net a three along with a Gavin Baumgartner put back and MSUM cut the deficit to 48-37. A Trever Kaiser three would bring the lead back to within single digits, 52-43, with just over 10 minutes remaining. Dane Zimmer would hit a three with another Baumgartner bucket to draw MSUM to within seven points. 
 
Jacob Beeninga would cut the lead to four points with just over 90 seconds remaining. Needing a stop, the Dragons worked out a shot clock violation to regain possession of the ball with one minute left. Baumgartner would score on the other end to bring the score to 62-60 with 35 seconds left in regulation. Jaden Stanley-Williams would reject a Crimson Storm shot on the ensuing possession to give the Dragons a shot to tie with 14 seconds left. 
 
Lorenzo McGhee would tie the game with a floater in the lane with five seconds remaining. Southern Nazarene was unable to get a game-winning bucket as time expired, sending the game to overtime. The Dragons erased a 16-point deficit in the second half. 
 
MSUM would go down by three points early in the extra session and would not be able to find the offense necessary to overcome Southern Nazarene. Gavin Baumgartner narrowly missed a corner three as time expired that would have sent the game to a second overtime. The Dragons would fall 67-64.
 
The Dragons finish the 2022-23 season at 25-7. It is the most wins since the 2015-16 season.