BEMIDJI, MN – Rugged defense and scoring punch throughout the lineup carried the University of Mary men's basketball team to a 76-70 win at Bemidji State University. Matthew Kreklow and Trever Kaiser both posted 15 points and nine different Marauders scored in the game.
 
The victory gives the Marauders their first back-to-back wins this season, both coming in Northern Minnesota. UMary closed out last weekend on the road with an 80-70 win at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
 
UMary improves to 3-4 on the season overall and 3-2 in the Northern Sun North Division, pushing into a tie for 3^rd place. The top four teams in the NSIC North advance to the league tournament. BSU slips to 1-6 and 0-5.
 
"We weren't our best offensively tonight as we missed some good looks around the rim and from the three but our energy was outstanding and we figured out a way to win!" said Marauders head coach Joe Kittell.
 
"And how about that bench! Their energy the entire game was amazing, both the guys that played and those that didn't. In a game with no fans that energy put us over the top."
 
Down 13-2 just six minutes in the game, the Marauders soon found their footing and went on a 25-10 run to take a lead. Kade Amundson came off the bench to start the run with a trey and the UMary  bench scored 11 points in that stretch to spark the Marauders comeback.
 
In the final minute of the first half Matthew Johnson hit a trey to give the Marauders a 32-29 lead at intermission and UMary remained in front the rest of the game.
 
The Marauders won the game at the line. After building an 8-point advantage, UMary saw its lead shrink to 66-63 with under three minutes remaining. UMary made eight straight free throws to close out the win, four by Kreklow and two by both Kaiser and Glenn Jordan.
 
The Marauders finished 14-of-16 at the line. The Beavers were 4-of-5.
 
Kaiser has now either led or tied for the team lead in scoring five straight games. The junior guard tacked on six rebounds and two assists to his 15 points.
 
Kreklow just missed a double double with 15 points and eight rebounds. The senior all-NSIC forward hit all six of his free throws and added two assists, two steals and two blocks.
 
Josh Sipes was 3-for-4 behind the arc for nine points. Wyatt Carr drained a pair of treys and scored eight and Jordan finished with seven.
 
UMary held a 22-10 edge in bench scoring. Amundson hit a couple treys and scored eight points. Lucas Mayer was 3-for-4 from the floor for six points and Johnson added five. Kam Warrens had the other two points. This was the second straight game UMary had nine players in the scoring column.
 
Derek Thompson and Griffin Chase both had 17 points apiece for BSU.
 
The Marauders close out a four-game road trip against the Beavers on Saturday, Jan. 23. Game time is 3:30 pm.
 
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