MANKATO, MN – Bryan Jefferson cemented his place in the University of Mary men's basketball history book with another exceptional performance but the all-conference performer's 30 points and 10 rebounds wasn't enough to push the visiting Marauders past Minnesota State University in the opening round of the 2017 Northern Sun / Sanford Health men's basketball tournament. The Mavericks held off the late-charging Marauders 87-78.
 
In his biggest outburst of the season, Jefferson connected on 13-of-20 shots. He was also 4-of-6 at the free throw line. The senior from Aurora, IL, just missed his career-high of 33 points. The double double is the sixth of the season; he missed seven others by a single board.
 
Jefferson finishes his career with 1,303 points and is just the ninth Mary player to exceed 1,300 points. He also completes his career with 620 rebounds, fourth all-time at Mary.
 
The Marauders, who upset the Mavericks at the Taylor Center in mid-January, jumped out to a quick 10-6 lead on a jumper by Isaac Lindquist and a pair of Damonta Henry free throws. It was the largest – and last – lead of the day for Mary as Minnesota State quickly produced the next nine points before a 3-pointer by Pat Thomas halted the run.
 
Minnesota State followed by scoring 22 of the next 31 points to build a 37-22 advantage. The Mavericks eventually led by 16 before entering intermission up 46-33. Mary hit just 38.2 percent of its shots while Minnesota State connected at a clip of 51.6 percent.
 
Down as much as 18 in the second half, Mary continued to work throughout the second half and outscored Minnesota State 45-41 on the final 20 minutes of play. The Marauders shot 58.1 percent in the second half and 47.7 percent for the game to a final total of 50.8 percent.
 
Behind Jefferson and Lindquist, Mary dominated scoring inside, holding a 38-20 edge on points in the paint. Mary also controlled the boards 37-29. MSU, however, was unstoppable outside, making 11-of-27 trey attempts while Mary was 5-of-14.
 
Three other seniors joined Jefferson in producing double digit points in their last game for Mary. Lindquist scored 10 points for the Marauders and had three rebounds. He went over 700 career points in the game. Rickey Suggs added ten points, seven rebounds and three assists. Henry chipped in 10 points.
 
Seniors Thomas and Erron Collins also wrapped up their Marauders careers. Thomas had four points, eight rebounds and three assists and Collins added an assist.
 
Austin Aarias led MSU with 25 points and seven assists. Jon Fuqua added 17 points and eight rebounds.
 
Mary finishes the season 12-17. MSU is 20-9.
 
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