Bench Sparks 2nd Half Surge, Dragon Men Rally Past UMary 79-65

MOORHEAD – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball team’s bench outscored UMary 57-9 as the Dragons rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to earn an 79-65 win over UMary in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Thursday night in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM is now 15-11 overall and 10-7 in the NSIC with the win while UMary fell to 10-15 overall and 9-11 in the league.

Junior guard Trever Kaiser, playing against his former team, had 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting for MSUM. Senior forward Gatdoar Kueth and freshman guard Jacob Beeninga had 13 points each while junior guard Lorenzo McGhee and sophomore forward Dane Zimmer had 10 points each.

Junior guard Gavin Baumgartner and Zimmer led with seven boards apiece while Baumgartner led with three assists. Kaiser had three steals.

It was a pair of second-half runs that proved decisive for MSUM. The Dragons were down 39-28 after UMary opened on an 8-0 run, but the Dragons responded with a 19-6 run over a span of 6:18 to take a 47-45 lead. Kaiser had five points for MSUM while Beeninga had four during that run.

The Dragons opened a seven-point lead, but UMary cut the gap to 63-59 with 4:59 left, but a 10-1 run helped the Dragons pull away for good. It was Kaiser (six points) and Kueth (four points) who keyed that run that helped MSUM built a 71-59 lead.

The Dragons finished strong, as a layup by freshman guard Gabe Myren gave MSUM its largest advantage at 79-63 with 30 seconds left.

MSUM had a 36-31 edge in rebounds and forced 17 Marauder turnovers, leading to a 17-8 edge in points off of turnovers.  The Dragons had 10 steals.

MSUM concludes the regular season on Saturday at Minot State for a 3:30 p.m. game. With a win, MSUM would clinch the No. 2 seed in the NSIC North and receive a first-round bye in the NSIC tournament.

Game Recap: Men’s Basketball | 2/17/2022 10:03:00 PM | Tom Berg

Dragon Women Rally from 16 Down, Outlast UMary in OT Thriller 76-73

MOORHEAD – The Minnesota State University Moorhead women’s basketball team rallied from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to tie and send the game to overtime, and the Dragons were able to prevail in the extra frame in a 76-73 win over UMary in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Thursday night in Moorhead.

MSUM improved to 8-13 overall and 7-10 in the NSIC with the win, while UMary fell to 12-15 overall and 6-12 in the league. The win clinched a berth in the upcoming NSIC tournament for the Dragons; MSUM has never missed the NSIC tournament since its inception,  including all 22 seasons under Head Coach Karla Nelson.

Junior forward Peyton Boom had her sixth double-double with 24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Sophomore guard Mariah McKeever had 24 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting; her dramatic three-pointer near the end of regulation tied the game at 67-67. Senior guard Natalie Steichen added 13 points and four assists. Boom also had four assists. McKeever led with a career-high six steals.

It was a dramatic comeback for MSUM, which was down 13 going into the fourth quarter. The Dragons slowly cut away at the lead as the fourth quarter waned, and tied the game on an Emma Thuringer free throw with 54 seconds left.

UMary’s Carly Kottsick hit a three with 32 seconds left to put UMary up 67-64. The Dragons had a pair of chances on their next possession and missed but UMary got the rebound with 13 seconds left.

UMary called a timeout and attempted to inbound the ball, but Thuringer deflected the pass into the hands of McKeever, who went down and fired a three-pointer from long range and buried it to tie the game at 67-67 with seven seconds left. UMary had a three-point attempt in the final seconds that didn’t fall.

Boom scored four straight points in overtime to give MSUM its largest lead of the night at 73-69.  UMary got as close as one but Boom hit two free throws with three seconds left to make it 76-73.

MSUM was down 31-26 at half, with McKeever accounting for nine first-half points and Boom eight.

UMary opened the second half on a 15-4 run to build a 46-30 lead with 6:22 left in the third and it left the Dragons playing catchup the rest of the way. MSUM was down 54-41 going into the fourth quarter.

UMary was 10-of-15 from the field in the third while MSUM was just 7-of-21 as the Marauders outscored the Dragons 23-15.

McKeever was 7-of-10 from three in regulation, including the tying three in the final seconds.

Thuringer had five points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench for MSUM.

The Dragons wrap up the regular season on Saturday at Minot State for a 1:30 p.m. game.

Game Recap: Women’s Basketball | 2/17/2022 8:07:00 PM | Tom Berg