MSUM Athletics
MOORHEAD, MINN.—The Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball team clinched a home game for the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament with a 75-55 rout of Minot State in action Friday at Nemzek Fieldhouse.
MSUM improves to 18-10 overall and 13-8 in the NSIC. Minot State falls to 10-18 overall and 4-18 in the NSIC.
The Dragons shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from beyond the arc compared to 37 percent (20-of-54) from the field and 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from three for the Beavers.
Senior guard Johnny Beeninga led the Dragons in points with 21 and also led in assists with six. Sophomore guard Gavin Baumgartner scored 11 points and dished out four assists. Freshman forward Dane Zimmer scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds. Junior forward Kaedrick Williams had five points and a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore center Jesse Bergh scored 11 points off the bench for the Dragons.
The score stayed tightly contested throughout the first half. With 6:35 remaining in the first half, a Minot State three-pointer closed the Dragon lead to just one at 25-24. A layup by Baumgartner extended the lead to eight with 2:55 remaining. MSUM closed out the first half with a 38-31 lead.
In the second half, the Dragons took control. A three-pointer by freshman forward Jack Rusch gave MSUM an 11-point advantage. The Dragons would go on to hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. A free throw by junior forward Joe Sevlie gave the Dragons a 14-point lead with 13:12 remaining in the game. The Beavers could not find an answer to the Dragon offense, and MSUM would take home the 20-point victory, winning 75-55.
Rusch finished the game with nine points for the Dragons.
MSUM is back in action tomorrow night. The Dragons will host UMary, with tip-off starting at 5:30 p.m. The game against UMary will be the final regular season game before the Dragons play at home for the first-round of the NSIC tournament.
