MOORHEAD – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball team built a 15-point lead and held off a Bemidji State rally in an 83-77 win over the Beavers in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday in Moorhead, Minn.
MSUM is now 13-11 overall and 8-7 in the NSIC while Bemidji State fell to 7-16 overall and 4-15 in the league with the loss.
Four Dragons scored in double figures on Senior Night, led by junior guard Lorenzo McGhee with 18 points. Junior forward Jaden Stanley-Williams and senior forward Gatdoar Kueth had 17 points each while junior guard Gavin Baumgartner had 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds and a team-best six assists.
MSUM shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) while Bemidji State shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64). MSUM had a 39-36 edge in rebounds but had a 27-11 edge in second-chance points.
A three-pointer by junior guard Bryce Irsfeld put MSUM up 66-51 with 12 minutes remaining, but the Beavers responded with a 13-0 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to 66-64 with 7:50 left.
MSUM never lost the lead but held a 78-75 lead in the final two minutes. The Dragons went 5-of-6 from the foul line to ice the game.
The Dragons opened the game on a 14-4 run, keyed by a pair of threes from Stanley-Williams. The lead grew to as many as 27-13.
Bemidji State cut the lead to six by halftime.
MSUM started out hot from three, hitting five of its first seven attempts, before finishing the first half 7-of-12.
McGhee had 12 first-half points for MSUM while Stanley-Williams had 10. MSUM shot 46.9 percent in the first half (15-of-32) compared to 48.3 percent (14-of-29) for Bemidji.
MOORHEAD – Sophomore guard Mariah McKeever scored a career-high 32 points as the Minnesota State University Moorhead women’s basketball team regained control of the Century Trophy with an 83-63 win over Bemidji State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday in Moorhead.
MSUM improved to 7-12 overall and 6-9 in the NSIC with the win while Bemidji State fell to 13-9 overall and 11-7 in the league. The Century Trophy goes to the winner of the second meeting of the year between the two teams. Bemidji State swept both meetings last year to claim possession.
McKeever finished with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting. She was 4-of-8 from three-point range in her first career 30-point game as a Dragon. It was the Dragons’ first individual to score more than 30 or more points since Kiley Borowicz scored 37 against Augustana on Jan. 19, 2019.
Junior forward Peyton Boom also had a huge night with a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of 2021-22. Junior forward Shyanne Loiland had her first double-double as a Dragon with 10 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Loiland and senior guard Natalie Steichen had four assists each.
The Dragons never trailed, scoring the game’s first four points as part of a 15-7 run to open the contest.
MSUM took a 39-30 lead into halftime and controlled much of the first half, outrebounding Bemidji State 23-16 (9-3 on the offensive glass). The Dragons had a 20-6 edge in points in the paint and a 16-3 edge in points off of turnovers.
McKeever (16 points) and Boom (12 points) combined for 28 of MSUM’s 39 first-half points. The Dragons led by as many as 11 in the first half.
The Dragons continued their solid play in the third, pushing the lead to as many as 18 points.
Bemidji State climbed within nine in the fourth quarter (66-57 with 5:17 left) but MSUM finished strong with a 17-6 run to push the final margin to 20.
Steichen, forward Emma Thuringer, Nicole Herbranson and Aliyah Miller were honored after the game as part of Senior Night.
MSUM hosts Minnesota Crookston at 1 p.m. on Sunday to wrap up the weekend.
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