MOORHEAD, MN – Career nights by Jaylan White and Trevor Zacher carried the University of Mary men's basketball team to a 77-65 road win over Northern Sun defending champion MSU Moorhead. White and Zacher combined for 50 of the Marauders points as UMary won its first conference game of the season.
 
White and Zacher combined to hit 18-of-25 shots and 10-of-12 free throws. As a team the Marauders shot 50 percent from the field, including 8-of-20 behind the arc, and made 13-of-15 free throws.
 
The Dragons couldn't match the Marauders from deep, making just 2-of-17 3-point attempts and making just 42.4 percent of their shots overall. MSUM finished 13-of-16 on free throws. The Dragons held a 35-30 edge in rebounds and outscored the Marauders 36-16 in the paint but it wasn't enough to overcome UMary's outside shooting advantage.
 
One night after scoring 16 points to lead the Marauders efforts at #13 Northern State, White torched the Dragons for a career-high 27 points. The sophomore guard connected on both his 3-point attempts and hit 9-of-11 shots from the floor overall. He was 7-of-8 at the free throw line and hauled down four rebounds. One of the NSIC leaders in assist to turnover ratio, White distributed five assists and committed one of the Marauders season-low three turnovers.
 
Zacher also produced a career-high with 23 points. The senior forward made 9-of-14 shots from the field, was 3-of-4 from the line, made two treys and tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven.
 
This was the first time this season the Marauders had at least two players with 20 or more points in the same game.
 
Evan Anderson, who was 2-for-3 on trey attempts, Keith Hunter and Tim Kubank all added six points for UMary. Matthew Kreklow had four points and seven rebounds.
 
Travaun Coad paced the Dragons with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Addison Park added 16 points and Johnny Beeninga had 15.
 
Down by as many as five points in the opening stanza, the Marauders scored eight of the final ten points of the first half. In a run highlighted by treys on consecutive possessions from Wyatt Carr and Zacher, Hunter scored in the final minute to send the Marauders into intermission with a 34-29 lead.
 
Unable to shake loose from the Dragons, the Marauders fell behind 48-46 in the second half on a Beeninga basket. It was the only time UMary trailed in the second half. Zacher immediately regained the lead for the Marauders when he converted a 3-point play after being fouled on a made layup. White then followed with a 3-pointer and the Marauders led 52-48. Both baskets came courtesy of assists from Carr.
 
Fighting to remain in front after MSUM closed within a single point at 53-52, White coolly converted jumpers on back-to-back possessions to push the UMary advantage back to five points. Four more times the Dragons closed within a single possession but each time the Marauders had an answer.
 
UMary closed the game in style, scoring on seven straight possessions during a 14-5 run in the final three minutes. The Marauders hit their last four field goal attempts and six straight free throws.
 
The Marauders return home to host a pair of NSIC games on Friday and Saturday, January 12-13, when Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State University visit the McDowell Activity Center.
 
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