MOORHEAD, MN - An early deluge from deep sank the visiting University of Mary's chances to upset Northern Sun North Division-leading MSU Moorhead. In UMary's final road game of the regular season, MSUM hit ten first-half treys to spark the Dragons to an 89-60 win over the Marauders.
 
"Back-to-back weekends we have gone against what I believe are two of the best teams in NCAA Division II basketball," said Marauders Head Coach Joe Kittell, after facing 2^nd ranked and undefeated Northern State University last weekend and the NSIC North Division co-leading Dragons this weekend. "I'm excited for practice Monday. We need to have a great week and finish the regular season on a positive note."
 
The Marauders (4-10 overall, 4-8 Northern Sun North Division) are in the chase for the fourth and final playoff slot in the NSIC tournament when they host Minot State University (6-6, 4-4) on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, in the final weekend of the regular season.
 
The Dragons are 8-2 overall and 8-0 in the NSIC North.
 
After moving into 11^th all-time on the Marauders career points list and fifth in career rebounding in a double double effort on Friday, Matthew Kreklow followed with another strong game in the series finale. The senior scored a game-high 15 points for UMary. The All-NSIC forward also led the Marauders with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Freshman Deven Franks posted a career-best 12 points, making all five of his free throws in the game. Trever Kaiser added 11 points. Kam Warrens chipped in seven points and six rebounds.
 
Gavin Baumgartner led the Dragons attack with 29 points, connecting on 7-of-9 3-point attempts. Dane Zimmer added 13 points and seven boards.  
 
After missing their first two 3-pointers of the game, the Dragons knocked down nine of their next ten to build a 24-point lead. MSUM finished the opening half 10-of-13 from behind the arc and led 50-32.
 
The Marauders shot 42% for the game, including a 5-of-17 effort on treys. The Dragons shot 55.9% for the contest and finished 13-of-27 on 3s.
 
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