BISMARCK, ND – Fighting from behind much of the night, the University of Mary took the final lead of the night when Gertautas Urbonavicius knocked down a game-winning 3-pointer in the final minute of play as the Marauders rallied past visiting Minot State University for a 72-69 victory in the Northern Sun opener for both teams.
 
In a game that featured five lead changes and two ties in the final four minutes of play, it was the Marauders who came out on top.
 
Both teams struggled to score early in the game before the Beavers found their footing first. Minot State ground its way to a 28-17 lead with nearly seven minutes remaining before UMary made a surge. The Marauders closed the half on a 9-0 run featuring a dunk by Lucas Mayer and 3s from Treyton Mattern and Zyon Smith. Defensively the Marauders forced the Beavers into eight straight misses as UMary entered intermission within 28-26.
 
Kam Warrens gave the Marauders a huge spark to start the second half, hitting two straight treys before Urbonavicius followed with a triple of his own as UMary claimed a 41-36 lead.
 
The Beavers soon followed with a run of their own to take a 52-43 lead before Jeremiah Jones took control of the game. The UMary freshman connected for back to back treys to close the deficit to 52-49. He soon followed with a pair of free throws and a layup to score 10 straight points for UMary.
 
UMary finally pulled ahead 63-62 on a triple by Smith before Minot State regained the advantage on a Camron Dunfee trey. Another Jones basket, this time on a second chance effort, pulled UMary even before the Beavers regained the advantage again. A Mayer basket on a putback of an offensive rebound with 1:28 to play was again followed by a second straight bucket by Javeon Tolliver.
 
That set the stage for Urbonavicius. Taking a kickout from Mayer, the UMary senior forward drained a shot on the win in front of the Marauders bench to give the Marauders a 70-69 lead.
 
A Mayer rebound halted the Beavers next possession but the Marauders were unable to add points. A Jones defensive rebound ended Minot State's subsequent possession and led to a pair of free throws by Warrens with 10 seconds to play and a 72-69 lead. After a Marauders foul, a wild three point attempt for the Beavers with three seconds left went awry and the Marauders secured their second win of the season.
 
Warrens paced the Marauders with 19 points. The senior forward was 3-for-4 on 3s and 7-of-10 from the field. He also had eight rebounds.
 
Smith also had a strong night behind the arc, sinking 3-of-5 on his way to 18 points.
 
Jones had a monster night on both ends of the court. He had 15 points and added a game-high 16 rebounds. The freshman also chipped in three assists, two steals and a pair of blocks.
 
Mayer finished with six points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
 
Dunfee led the Beavers with 17 points. Jaxon Gunville had 13. Both his three treys.
 
The Marauders finished the night 12-for-24 on treys while shooting 41.5% for the game. The Beavers shot 41.2% overall and made 8-of-21 behind the arc.
 
UMary (2-0 overall, 1-0 NSIC) held a massive 45-33 edge on the boards but committed 15 turnovers to 10 for Minot State (1-2, 0-1 NSIC), giving the visitors a 14-8 edge in points off turnovers. The Beavers also had a 34-20 edge in paint points but the Marauders rebounding work resulted in a 19-8 advantage in second chance points.
 
UMary now heads to Melbourne, FL, for a pair of games in the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament. The 2-day event opens on Friday, November 25, in a neutral site game against Trevecca Nazarene University at 2:30 pm CST. Game two is slated on Saturday, November 26, against either host Florida Tech or Puerto Rico Bayamon.
 
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