BISMARCK, N.D. – In a battle between two teams desperate to move up in the conference standings, the University of Mary turned on its offensive afterburners in the second half and rocketed past Bemidji State University 75-66. The victory moves the Marauders a game ahead of the Beavers in the Northern Sun with three left to play in the regular season.
 
Tied in the NSIC's overall standings and in the North Division slottings prior to the game, the Marauders improved to 7-16 overall and 5-14 in the NSIC with the win. U-Mary jumped into a tie for 12^th in the overall standings and 6^th place tie in the North. The Beavers are now 8-15 and 4-15, 15^th overall in the league and 8^th in the North.
 
The Marauders have another chance to improve in the standings on Saturday, Feb. 14, when U-Mary hosts the University of Minnesota Crookston at 6 p.m. in the McDowell Activity Center for the final home game of the season. The Marauders and the Golden Eagles are two of the three teams tied for 12^th in the overall standings and the two teams tied for 6^th in the division leaderboard.
 
A rock fight in the first half, both teams struggled offensively. Bemidji State entered intermission leading 26-25 after Christian Pekarek hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. U-Mary connected on just 33.3 percent of its field goal attempts and BSU struggled along at 32.4 percent.
 
U-Mary discovered its afterburners in the second half, scoring 50 points and shooting 60 percent from the floor. After failing to hit a trey in the opening half, the Marauders connected on 7-of-11 shots behind the arc following intermission.
 
The play of Jaycob Velasco and Chris Mason allowed the Marauders to reverse their fortune in the second half. During a 15-3 run to take over the game, the duo combined to score 13 points and propel U-Mary to its largest lead of the night at 55-43.
 
Knotted at 40-40, Mason scored on a jumper and followed with a trey. After a BSU free throw and a layup by Luke Scott, Mason returned with a pair of free throws.
 
BSU countered with a layup by Dillon Floyd but Velasco responded with a trey. After both teams failed to produce points on subsequent possessions, another Velasco 3-pointer provided the Marauders their first double digit lead of the night with just over ten minutes remaining in the game.
 
Not finished, twice the Beavers pulled within five points. Both times Germain Decoste responded with baskets. A dunk by Decoste with 53 seconds left then put the exclamation point on the Marauders win.
 
Velasco scored a game-high 22 points, including 14 in the second half. The junior forward finished the game 4-of-7 behind the arc and 9-of-14 overall from the floor. He also had eight rebounds.
 
Marquealis Edwards posted his third double double of the season, chipping in 14 points and 11 rebounds. The junior guard also had five assists and was 7-of-8 at the free throw line. Decoste added 10 points and Mason eight points and nine assists.
 
Shane White paced BSU with 12 points and seven rebounds. Cody Risseeuw hit three treys and scored 11 points.
 
U-Mary shot 45.5 percent for the game and was 18-of-24 at the free throw line. BSU made just 34.9 per cent of its shots and was 10-of-15 at the line.
 
In addition to their edge at the free throw line, The Marauders also controlled the boards with a 46-34 rebounding advantage.
 
The win gives the Marauders a season sweep of the Beavers, who had beaten U-Mary six straight times entering this year.
 
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