BISMARCK, N.D. – The leader from tip off to the final buzzer, the University of Mary men's basketball team held off a late charge by visiting Bemidji State University for a 92-80 Northern Sun victory. It is the Marauders seventh straight win overall and their fifth consecutive in conference play.
The win improved the Marauders record to 12-2 overall and 7-1 in the NSIC and keeps the Marauders within a game of first overall and in the North division. This is U-Mary's best start to a season - both overall and in league play – in the Marauders NCAA era that started with the 2006-07 season.
Marquealis Edwards scored a game-high 23 points, including eight straight free throws in the final minute that ensured the Marauders win. The senior guard hit all three of his trey attempts in the contest, finished 6-of-7 total on field goals and converted 8-of-9 at the free throw line. He also added four rebounds and four assists.
U-Mary scored the first seven points of the game, punctuated by a steal and spectacular slam dunk by
Devan Douglas.
After the Beavers closed within 11-10, the Marauders went on a 28-10 run.
Brandon Tyler scored eight points during the Marauders surge, including three straight layups towards the end.
Despite making just one of ten 3-point attempts in the opening stanza, the Marauders converted 17-of-26 shots inside the arc to build a 45-30 halftime lead.
Two early baskets by the Beavers to open the second half cut the Marauders lead to 47-37. U-Mary countered the challenge with seven straight points to start a 16-4 run capped by an Edwards jumper for a 63-41 lead with over 12 minutes left to play. A
Rickey Suggs basket a minute later provided the Marauders their largest lead of the night, 70-46 at the 11:04 mark.
Refusing to go away, the Beavers drained four treys by three different players before a Harvey Williams tip-in at 5:09 pulled Bemidji State within 76-69.
The Marauders responded with a turnaround jumper by
Bryan Jefferson and a layup by Isaac Linquist on their next two possessions to push the lead back to double digits at 80-69. A Jefferson free throw followed by a Douglas trey boosted the U-Mary lead to 84-71 at 2:04 remaining in the game. Behind the free throw shooting of Edwards, the Marauders maintained a double digit lead the rest of the way.
U-Mary dominated in the paint, outscoring Bemidji State 34-22 inside, including a 24-4 advantage in the first half. The Marauders shot 55.9 percent for the game, including a 65.2 percent conversion rate in the second half. U-Mary also stepped up its outside shooting, draining 5-of-7 treys after intermission and finishing 6-of-17 for the game. At the line the Marauders finished 20-of-26.
Entering the weekend second in the NSIC in scoring and 8
th in the country in field goal percentage, the Marauders offensive explosion comes one night after shooting less than 39 percent in a 65-56 win over the University of Minnesota Crookston.
Defensively the Marauders held the Beavers to just 40.9 percent shooting. However, the Beavers were 12-of-27 behind the arc and held a 14-4 edge on the offensive boards, allowing BSU to produce 16 second chance points to two for U-Mary. Overall the Beavers outrebounded the Marauders 36-29.
In addition to Edwards, three other Marauders also reached double figures in points. Lindquist made 5-of-8 shots and all six free throws on his way to 16 points. Jefferson chipped in 14 points and four rebounds. Tyler scored 12 points and snared six rebounds. Douglas added nine points, four assists and two steals.
Elijah Valdez came off the bench to make four 3-pointers and score 16 points for the Beavers. Calvin Harrington hit three treys and added 12 points in a reserve roll. Christian Pekarek was 4-of-6 behind the arc to score 15 points and Ben Best added 10 points.
After five straight home games, the Marauders next visit nationally-ranked MSU Moorhead and Northern State University on Jan. 8-9.
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