MINOT, N.D. – Behind clutch offensive play in the second half and a stellar defensive effort, the University of Mary men's basketball team opened its Northern Sun schedule with a 78-66 win over Minot State University.
Marquealis Edwards scored a game-high 22 points as the Marauders snapped a 5-game losing streak against the Beavers and left the Magic City with a win for the first time in 11 years.
"The guys played hard for all 40 minutes," said U-Mary first year head coach
Joe Kittell. "After an ugly first half on offense, we found a groove in the second half and made a couple runs. We finished the game by playing solid defense. I'm very proud of our whole group effort tonight."
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half. U-Mary (4-1 overall, 1-0 Northern Sun) made just 37 percent of its shots while homestanding Minot State (4-2, 0-1) connected on just 32.1 percent. The Beavers scored the first eight points of the game before Edwards scored nine points in a 13-2 Marauders run to give the visitors a 13-10 lead. Neither team built more than a 4-point advantage and U-Mary entered intermission up 29-28 on a 3-pointer at the horn by Edwards.
The Marauders first big outburst of the second half, a 13-2 run capped by an Edwards layup, provided U-Mary a 46-38 lead at the first media timeout. A Demonta Henry trey soon pushed the Marauders advantage to nine points before the Beavers rallied, scoring 11 of the next 13 to tie the game 51-51 on a Luis Ricci Maia 3-pointer. With both teams trading baskets, Brandon Green's layup for MSU knotted the game for the tenth and final time at 60-60.
The rest of the night belonged to U-Mary. After an Edwards 3-pointer broke the tie, turnovers on the next two Beavers possessions led to a
Rickey Suggs layup and a pair of
Devan Douglas free throws.
Refusing to fold, Minot State's Tyler Rudolph hit a pair of free throws and Winston Williams made a layup with 4:12 remaining to bring the Beavers within 67-64. It was the closest MSU would get the rest of the night.
Brandon Tyler responded to the mini Beavers run with a layup. After the Marauders defense forced another turnover,
Isaac Lindquist knocked down jumper.
Bryan Jefferson added a free throw and the U-Mary lead ballooned to 74-64 on a Douglas steal-and-slam with 2:10 left. Douglas continued his impact down the stretch with a defensive rebound, leading to another jumper from Lindquist that pushed the Marauders advantage to an insurmountable one dozen points.
In the last four minutes of the game after Minot State pulled within three points, the Marauders forced two turnovers and held the Beavers to a 1-for-8 shooting effort while U-Mary scored 11 of the game's final 13 points.
Edwards was nigh unstoppable. The senior guard made 8-of-12 shots, including 3-of-5 behind the arc, and was 3-of-4 at the line. The Minneapolis, Minn., native also led the Marauders with seven rebounds and four steals.
Three other Marauders also reached double figures. Tyler hit three treys and posted 13 points. Douglas made all four free throw attempts on his way to 11 points. HE added six rebounds.
Suggs concluded an impressive week by chipping in 12 points off the bench. The junior swing man hit 6-of-9 from the floor and snared five boards. He scored 18 points against MSU Billings on Monday.
Rudolph posted 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Beavers. Dominique McDonald had 14 points.
After a slow first half the Marauders shot 48.2 percent overall from the floor, including a 42.9 percent effort behind the arc. The Beavers made just 4-of-19 attempts on 3-pointers and shot 38.3 percent overall on the night.
Entering the game the Beavers had won ten of the last 11 meetings between the two schools. The Marauders last road win in the series came on Feb. 25, 2004.
The Marauders next face Northern State University on Friday, Dec. 4, at 8 p.m. to open their Northern Sun home schedule.
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