Box Score MOORHEAD, Minn. – For the second straight night, the University of Mary men's basketball team went from the edge of exaltation to devastation based on the random bounce of the round ball. One night after a Marauders shot to force overtime was halfway down before rolling out, Chris Mason's game-winning attempt tonight at the buzzer bounced tantalizing around the rim, off the glass and off the rim in a wild 95-94 loss at MSU Moorhead.


The 2014 regular season finale for both teams, the Dragons (19-7 overall, 15-7 NSIC) claim a share of the Northern Sun North Division title and earn the top seed in the league tournament. Had Mason's shot dropped MSUM would have finished third.
 
Combined with a loss by Minot State University, the Marauders (7-20, 5-17) earned the sixth seed in the NSIC/Sanford Health men's basketball tournament and will play at Southwest Minnesota State University on Wednesday, February 26, at 7 PM in an opening round game.
 
Mason scored a career-high 29 points for the Marauders and was heavily influential in forcing the extra session. This was the fifth overtime game this season for U-Mary, tops in the NSIC.
 
Down by as many as 10 points in the second half, the Marauders found themselves within five points with 1:38 left in the game.
 
Bryan Jefferson, who scored a career-high 15 points, hit 1-of-2 free throws with 79 seconds left to close within 83-79. A Dragons turnover led to a Damonta Henry layup at 0:43 to pull the Marauders within two. Mason then stole the ball and drove in for an overtime-forcing layup with 42 seconds left. The Dragons did have a shot for the win but a jumper by Tarell Clark didn't fall with five seconds left and the contest went to overtime.
 
Down early in the extra session, a three point play by Jefferson followed by a Mason three-pointer on the Marauders next possession tied the game at 89-89. Jumpers by Mason and Marc Musungayi sandwiched around a Clark free throw gave U-Mary its biggest overtime lead at 93-90.
 
The Dragons shortly pulled within two before Tyler Vaughan scored what proved to be the game-winning points. With 25 seconds remaining he drove the left side of the lane and was fouled while making the layup. He then cast home the winning point on a free throw to cap the three-point lay.
 
A night after Henry's three-point attempt rolled out of the basket at the end of a 72-69 loss at Northern State, the Marauders were forced to endure similar agony against the Dragons. Contested on his jumper from eight feet out, Mason and the Marauders saw his shot bounce around the rim, kiss the glass, hit more iron and then roll off just before time expired.
 
Mason scored 26 of his 29 points in the second half. He finished the day making 11-of-17 shots overall with a 5-of-8 effort on three pointers. He also had six rebounds.
 
Henry came off the bench and drained four treys and scored 16 points. Jefferson, a freshman from Illinois like Henry, scored a career-high 15 points and hauled down six rebounds. Musungayi had 17 points in the game.
 
Vaughn led the Dragons with 26 points, one of five MSUM players in double figures. Isaac Sevlie had 16 points, Clark added 15 and Aaron Lien and Ngijol Songolo posted 11 each.
 
The Marauders had a tremendous night shooting the ball, making 58 per cent of their shots that included a 10-of-20 effort behind the arc. U-Mary was also 16-of-21 at the free throw line. The Dragons shot 50 per cent from the floor and went 22-of-31 at the free throw line.
 
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