MOORHEAD, Minn. -- A 43-point night from
Dominic Gooden helped lift Minnesota State Moorhead men's basketball to its first win of the 2025-26 season on Friday night. Gooden and the Dragons upended 17th-ranked Black Hill State as part of the East-West Shootout inside Nemzek Fieldhouse, 100-85.
Gooden's 43 points are tied for the fifth-most in a single game in school history. Also in the win,
Jason Kemp earned his first career head coaching win.
Moorhead would get going early as
Tysen Gerads scored the game's first points with a corner three. Black Hills State would work to regain the lead five minutes into the contest, eventually holding a lead as large as six points in the early stages. The Yellow Jackets would later build a 10-point lead midway through the half before the Dragons began to chip away.
Isa El-Amin would drill a three, followed by another from
Dominic Gooden. The pair of triples would get the Dragons to within six points with eight minutes to go in the first half. Gooden would strike again from long distance shortly after to have Moorhead to within five points.
Rodrick Payne would score the next six points for the Dragons to have them within three points late in the frame. Payne would take advantage of a size mismatch to earn the baskets. Gooden would then drop in back-to-back triples to give Moorhead a three-point lead, their first since early in the first half. The redshirt junior would only continue his tear, burying five more points before the half ended. By the break, MSUM had used a 17-4 run to take an eight-point lead, 49-41. Gooden had 17 points in the half for Moorhead.
The energy continued for the Dragons into the second half as
Kabine Kaba knocked down a three from the top of the key to open the scoring. Six minutes into the second half, Moorhead would hold a 13-point lead after Gooden drained three freebies after a foul. The middle point of the half was completely dominated by Gooden, who scored eight consecutive points to keep Moorhead in front by eight points with seven minutes to play.
Levi Birkholz would put in three free throws following a foul to get the Dragon lead back into double digits (82-71).
Down the stretch, Black Hills State would only come as close as eight points as Gooden and
Sam Hondl scored for the Dragons. A thunderous alley-oop from Gooden to Payne sent Nemzek Fieldhouse into a frenzy and put Moorhead up by 12 points with less than three minutes to play. MSUM would shut the game down at the free throw line late in the game, converting on nine of 10 attempts down the stretch. Gooden would put Moorhead at 100 points with his 43rd point of the game as the Dragons claimed the 100-85 win. The redshirt junior netted 26 points in the second half alone.
Gooden's 43 points is tied for the fifth-most in a single game in school history, matching legend Brett Beeson's 43-point game against Wayne State in 1995. The Cleveland, Ohio, native was downright unconscious all evening, ending the game with a 75 percent clip from the floor, including six made three-pointers.
Top Dragons
Steve d'Eustachio's Stat of the Game
The Dragons are now 4-1 against Black Hills St. and each of their wins has been in different cities. The other three wins were:
- 69-57 in Spearfish, S.D. Nov 15, 2024
- 86-72 in Rapid City, S.D. Nov 18, 2023
- 80-61 in Fairbanks, Alaska Nov 21, 2014
Up Next
MSUM (1-2) is back inside Nemzek Fieldhouse tomorrow evening for a 5:30 p.m. showdown with South Dakota Mines.
