BISMARCK, N.D. – Despite playing hobbled much of the night, Chris Mason drove the University of Mary to its biggest win of the season, an 80-76 upset over Northern State University. The senior guard scored a season-high 27 points, knocking down nearly every shot he took against the fourth-place team in the Northern Sun.
 
Mason knocked down 10-of-12 shots in the game, including three treys in five attempts. The native of Phoenix, Ariz., finished 4-of-6 at the free throw line. He also added five rebounds, two assists and two steals while playing on an injured leg.
 
As a team, the Marauders (4-10 overall, 2-9 NSIC) shot 55.6 per cent from the floor, their second-best mark of the season. U-Mary made 30-of-54 field goals, including 8-of-18 behind the arc, and hit 12-of-15 free throw attempts.
 
Northern State (13-3, 7-3), which was receiving votes for the nation's top 25, also was solid shooting the ball, making half of their field goal attempts (24-of-48) while connecting on just 7-of-21 3-point attempts. The Wolves hurt themselves at the free throw line, making just 21-of-31 attempts.
 
Down six in the first half, the Marauders used an 11-0 run to build a 26-21 lead. After the Wolves came back to tie the contest, a 10-2 spurt featuring five points each by Mason and Jaycob Velasco allowed U-Mary to enter intermission leading 36-32.
 
The Marauders extended their advantage to 62-52 on a Mason jumper midway through the second half and U-Mary rode that advantage to the win.
 
The Wolves eventually ground down the Marauders and knotted the game 71-71 on a Darin Peterka trey. But instead of a replay of the U-Mary seven-point loss at Northern State earlier this season when the Wolves scored nine of the final ten points in the game, the Marauders responded to every challenge placed before them tonight.
 
Isaac Lindquist answered Peterka's trey with a three-point play of his own. The sophomore center hit an 8-foot jumper with the shot clock running down. Fouled in the process, Lindquist stepped to the line and knocked down the free throw for a 74-71 U-Mary lead with 1:58 remaining.
 
Peterka came back with a layup for NSU but Mason responded with a jumper from the right side, pushing the U-Mary lead back to 76-73 at 1:22.
 
The Marauders defense then stepped forward as Peterka missed a layup attempt with Mason ripping down the board.
 
Mason then sealed the U-Mary win. With the shot clock and the game clock winding down, Mason was fouled as a hit a teardrop shot on the right baseline with 12 seconds left on the clock. Despite missing the free throw, U-Mary was up 78-73.
 
Refusing to go away, Peterka hit a trey in the right corner with four seconds remaining to pull within 78-76.
 
Declining to play it safe, Bryan Jefferson was left wide open at midcourt and Luke Scott found him with a long inbound pass. With no defenders in his way, Jefferson drove to the basket and hit a thunderous dunk with 0.8 seconds left in the game to put the exclamation point on the Marauders win.
 
The first home win of the season for the Marauders, the U-Mary victory snapped a five-game losing streak to Northern State. It was only the third loss of the year for the Wolves. Northern State's two other losses were to 13^th ranked and NSIC-leading MSU Moorhead.
 
Velasco scored 11 points for the Marauders off the bench, making 5-of-10 shots before fouling out. Damonta Henry added 10 points and hit two treys in five tries. Jefferson chipped in nine points and six rebounds. Alex Anderson was 2-of-3 on 3-point attempts and scored six points.
 
The Marauders were forced to play much of the game without Marquealis Edwards, the team's leading scorer. He scored the first four points of the game and added three steals and three rebounds in 12 minutes before leaving the game. Scott then helped run the U-Mary offense and finished with six assists, six points, two steals and five rebounds.
 
Skye Warwick led the Wolves with 14 points. Peterka, Tydan Storrusten and Seth Bachand each had 13 points and DJ Pollard added 12. Bachand led all players with seven assists and 10 rebounds but went 5-of-12 at the free throw line.
 
The Marauders return to the road next week with their longest conference trip of the season, playing at Winona State University and Upper Iowa University on January 16-17.
 
#marauders#