BISMARCK, ND – One night after his worst offensive performance of the season, Bryan Jefferson bounced back with one of his best games of the year. The University of Mary senior forward registered his third double double and led all players in rebounds and points. Despite the all-conference player's performance, the Marauders failed to keep pace with MSU Moorhead in the second half of an 84-69 loss to the visiting Dragons.
 
Jefferson, held scoreless against Northern State on Friday, responded in an exceptional way against the Dragons. The Aurora, IL, native scored 21 points and registered 15 rebounds. The total boards was a career-high and tied Alex Dorr's efforts against St. Joseph's on Nov. 23, 2012, for the most rebounds by a Mary player in the school's NCAA era.
 
Behind 11 points from Jefferson and 10 from Rickey Suggs, the Marauders (5-11 overall, 3-7 Northern Sun) went into intermission tied 41-41 against the NSIC-leading Dragons (13-3, 8-2). Neither team could pull away as the largest lead was four points, reached twice by the Mary, and the lead changed hands 18 times. Two free throws by Suggs in the final minute delivered the fifth tie of the half.
 
The Marauders continued to keep pace early in the second half. After a Matt Nelson layup pushed MSUM ahead by two, Mary ran off seven straight points on a Suggs layup and a 3-pointer from Erron Collins. A steal by Pat Thomas leading to a Jefferson fast break basket closed the run.
 
Minutes later, following two Jefferson free throws, the Marauders held a 52-46 lead.
 
The rest of the game belonged to the Dragons. Scoring on five straight possessions, hitting all three treys attempted and with eight points from Aaron Lein, MSU Moorhead ripped off 17 straight points to go up 63-52. Mary closed the gap to eight twice but could not climb any closer in the Marauders sixth straight loss.
 
Making his third straight start, Suggs scored 17 points for Mary. The senior wing made 6-of-11 shots and all five free throws. He also had five rebounds. Isaac Lindquist added eight points and Jaylan White added seven.
 
Tanner Kretchman paced MSUM with 18 points. Lein had 17 and Jon Doss, who had four treys, scored 14 points and added right rebounds.
 
After shooting 60.7 percent in the first half, Mary made just one-third of its shots in the second half and finished the day at 45.9 percent. MSUM hit 56.9 percent of its shots with a 5-for-11 effort behind the arc in the second half.
 
Next up for the Marauders is a Northern Sun doubleheader weekend at Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State on Jan. 13-14.
 
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