ABERDEEN, S.D. – MSU Moorhead men's basketball used gritty efforts from
Logan Kinsey,
Carson Johnson and
Will Kinsey in a Thursday night road tilt. The Dragons vanquished Northern State, 77-62.
Both teams would begin the contest at a relatively even pace with Northern State jumping up by two points ahead of the first media timeout. A fiery
Tim Bergstraser sent a message to his team during that first timeout. The head man's effort proved to work as MSUM focused in out of the break. MSUM would claim an 10-9 lead thanks to a three-pointer from
Logan Kinsey.
The squads would trade punches from there with MSUM holding a slim four-point lead with seven minutes to play in the first half. Northern State would go on to tie the score at 22 points before the Dragons made a run. MSUM went on a 9-0 burst, kickstarted by a triple from
Carson Johnson. The freshman Johnson would score on a floater with time waning in the first half to bring the Dragons their largest lead of eight points. MSUM led 34-26 at the break led by 12 points from Johnson. Kinsey scored eight for MSUM in the first 20 minutes.
MSUM would put their advantage into double digits early in the second half as
Jacob Jennissen would get going on offense. A nice dish from Johnson to Jennissen for a slam put the Dragons up 48-38 five minutes into the second half. Jennissen had six points in the early portion of the frame. Midway through the half, Northern State would cut the Dragon lead to four points (50-46).
While the Wolves would come within three points with under 10 minutes to play,
Sam Hastreiter would snap NSU's momentum with a triple. The shot sparked a short 7-0 run by the Dragons, putting them back up by eight points with six minutes to play.
Eddie Beeninga would show that banks do stay open past 5 p.m., scoring a three to give the Dragons an 11-point lead.
Will Kinsey would erupt the MSUM bench shortly thereafter, converting on a finish while being fouled. Baseline Billy would hit the ensuing free throw to give the Dragons their largest lead to that point, 66-53. Kinsey would continue his stirring performance, earning a diving steal on the next NSU possession. With less than four minutes to go, MSUM led by 16 points (69-53).
The Dragons would claim the game 77-62 behind 23 points from
Logan Kinsey. Johnson was superb all evening, scoring 14 points while dishing out seven assists. Hastreiter (14) and
Shaun Wysocki (11) each scored in double figures for MSUM as well.
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Up Next
MSUM (13-8, 8-7 NSIC) returns to Moorhead for a Saturday matchup against St. Cloud State. Tipoff from Nemzek Fieldhouse is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
