SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A resurgent season for University of Mary men's basketball ended a game shy of the Northern Sun / Sanford Health championship. After preseason polls projected the squad to finish near the basement of the league, U-Mary instead won two postseason games and advanced to the conference tournament semifinals before 7
th ranked MSU Moorhead ended the Marauders season 89-65.
Under the direction of first-year head coach
Joe Kittell, the Marauders finished the season 19-12 overall. The 19 wins is the second highest amount of victories for a Marauders squad in the last 14 years. The only other squad to win more in that span was a 2011 U-Mary squad who posted 23 victories. Additionally the 2016 and 2011 units are the only U-Mary men's basketball teams to host and win NSIC postseason contests and advance to the league tournament semifinals.
Competitive early, the Marauders used an 8-0 run to grab a 12-8 advantage in the opening minutes. Layups by
Bryan Jefferson,
Devan Douglas and
Rickey Suggs sandwiched between free throws by Douglas and Jefferson gave U-Mary its biggest lead of the day.
Cold early, the Dragons soon found their outside game. Leading by one, the Dragons went on a 17-2 run behind three treys, two dunks and a bunch of missed shots by the Marauders to go up 43-27. Their advantage grew to as many as 18 points for MSUM. U-Mary went into intermission trailing 47-33 after Suggs tipped in a missed shot at the horn.
Unable to slow the Dragon's momentum, the Marauders trailed by as many as 30 points in the second half.
Four Marauders posted double figures for points. Senior guard
Marquealis Edwards had 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals in his final game for the Marauders. Douglas, a fellow senior, added ten points and a team-high eight rebounds.
All-NSIC performer
Bryan Jefferson added 11 points and eight rebounds. Fellow junior
Isaac Lindquist scored 12 points.
Isaac Seville posted a game-high 21 points with seven rebounds for MSU Moorhead. Fellow all-conference players Tanner Kretchman and Tyler Vaughan also had big days. Kretchman scored 13 points, had three treys and dished 10 assists while Vaughan had 17 points and 12 boards. Evan Holt was 4-for-5 on treys and scored 12 points off the bench.
In the rubber match between the Marauders and Dragons, who had split their regular season meetings, MSUM was 12-of-27 on trey attempts compared to the 4-of-17 effort by U-Mary. The Dragons also dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Marauders 48-30.
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