FARGO, N.D. – Red River Valley basketball fans were treated to a competitive exhibition bout on Thursday evening inside the Scheels Center. Minnesota State Moorhead men's basketball dropped a hotly contested game with NCAA Division I North Dakota State, 80-74.
Moorhead would see the more consistent offensive attack through five minutes of play. Transfer senior
Kayden Nation buried a pair of three-pointers early to spark the Dragons. MSUM would lead 11-9 in the early stages after a made triple from
Lincoln Rogers at the top of the key. North Dakota State would regain a three-point lead as the Bison would hold the Dragons without a field goal for nearly five minutes.
A trio of triples from Rogers,
Beckett Pfau and
Isa El-Amin would position Moorhead with a two-point advantage, 28-26. To that point in the contest, MSUM had connected on six of 11 three-point attempts. Nation would connect on his third three of the half shortly after to keep the Dragons even with the Bison.
North Dakota State would close the half on a 6-0 run to lead 44-39. Nation led the Dragons with nine points, followed closely by El-Amin with eight. Rogers and
Nashawn Holmes would each score six points for the Dragons in the half.
MSUM would slow the game down out of the locker room, drawing five fouls through four minutes of action. El-Amin would splash a triple in the stretch to even the count at 47 points.
Ja'Quez Thornton would convert on five straight points for the Dragons to claim a 52-49 lead. Nearing the midway point of the second half, MSUM led by five points (57-52) after Nation's fourth three-pointer of the game.
The Dragons led 63-60 with eight minutes to play thanks to an inside basket from
Adam Jenkins. By the five-minute mark in the contest, North Dakota State would regain a small lead, 68-65. That three-point lead would carry into the final three minutes with the Bison holding a 73-70 advantage.
Down the stretch, North Dakota State would score 12 of its final 16 points from the free throw line to edge the Dragons. While Moorhead would come within two points, the Bison would win 80-74. Nation led the Dragons with a team-high 17 points, including five made three-pointers. El-Amin and Rogers finished with 12 points each with El-Amin dishing out six assists. Holmes and Thornton each chipped in eight points.
MSUM is set to begin the 2026-27 regular season at the Central Region Challenge on Friday, November 13 against Washburn. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. from Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
