By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — Seven games remaining and a two-game lead in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men’s basketball race.
Minnesota State is looking good in the chase for the conference championship and the right to host the Northern Sun tournament, but there’s much more to play for over the next four weeks.
“We’re not the best team in (the Central Region), and that’s one of our goals,” coach Matt Margenthaler said. “We talk about getting better each day, and we have a lot of things to work on before next Friday. This time of the year, everyone is banged up and tired, and the toughest and most mentally prepared teams will continue to be successful.”
Minnesota State had to grind Saturday to defeat Minnesota Duluth 79-65 in a Northern Sun game at Bresnan Arena.
The crowd of 3,921 was the fifth-largest in arena history, and the Mavericks provided as much entertainment as possible against the methodical Bulldogs.
“They do a good job of making you play defense for 30 seconds each possession,” guard Jesse Clark said. “We knew this would be a slugfest, and you have to match their physicality.”
After the Mavericks went up 7-2, Minnesota Duluth was able to control the pace of the first half, keeping the score down. The Bulldogs took a brief led at 17-16 before the Mavericks reeled off seven straight points, including a monstrous dunk by Travis Nelson that stunned a Minnesota Duluth defender.
Nelson’s second dunk kept the Mavericks up 31-25 at the break
“We talked about being disciplined and focused,” Margenthaler said. “Duluth did a great job of controlling the tempo in the first half, and we weren’t able to get a couple of stops together so we could make a run.
“We did a better job of that in the second half, and we rebounded better. We stayed disciplined offensively and finished our shots and free throws so we could set up our defense to get the tempo to our liking.”
The game remained close until the 13:30 mark, when the Mavericks opened a four-point lead to 11. Nelson scored twice in the post as Minnesota State began to pull away.
The defense held the Bulldogs to only five free throws in a seven-minute stretch, building the margin to 66-47 on Taylor Morrow’s three-point play with six minutes remaining.
Minnesota Duluth shaved eight points off that lead, but the Mavericks were able to maintain the comfortable lead.
Nelson, who didn’t start because he was late to a team meeting Saturday, finished with 23 points. Jefferson Mason had 18 points and 13 rebounds, his eighth double-double but first since joining the starting lineup 10 games ago.
Clark had 12 points and six assists, and Marcus Hill added 11 points, making 8 of 8 free throws.
“We need to keep getting better,” Clark said. “We played well at times this weekend, but we have a lot of work to do defensively, especially switching screens and rebounding.”
Minnesota State (19-1, 12-1 in Northern Sun) hosts Minnesota Crookston Friday and Minnesota State-Moorhead Saturday. The Mavericks have a two-game lead over St. Cloud State in the conference, with a game at St. Cloud in two weeks.
“The thing that keeps us from looking ahead is that we’re only No. 2 in the region,” Clark said. “We know we have to win every night if we want a chance to host the region tournament, which is our biggest goal.”
MINNESOTA DULUTH 65
Rodriguez 0-3 0-0 0, Powers 1-1 0-0 2, Rasmussen 10-20 5-6 28, White 3-10 10-11 16, Hottenstine 0-3 1-2 1, Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Schade 0-1 0-0 0, McDonald 1-3 0-0 2, Ninham 0-3 0-0 0, Duncan 5-7 5-5 15, Franklin 0-1 1-2 1, Leaon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 20-54 22-26 65.
MINNESOTA STATE 79
Grundman 0-1 0-0 0, Mason 6-10 6-10 18, Clark 4-5 2-2 12, Davis 2-5 1-2 5, Drapcho 1-5 0-0 2, Hill 1-8 8-8 11, Hodges 2-3 0-0 4, Kirschbaum 0-0 0-0 0, Morrow 1-4 2-3 4, Nelson 8-15 7-8 23, Greeley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-57 26-33 79.
Halftime: Minnesota State 31, Minnesota Duluth 25. 3-point shooting: Minnesota Duluth 3-18 (Rodriguez 0-1, Rasmussen 3-11, Schade 0-1, McDonald 0-2, Ninham 0-2, Duncan 0-1), Minnesota State 3-10 (Mason 0-1, Clark 2-2, Davis 0-1, Hill 1-3, Hodges 0-1, Morrow 0-2). Rebounds: Minnesota Duluth 36 (Rodriguez, White, Ninham, Duncan 4), Minnesota State 35 (Mason 13). Assists: Minnesota Duluth 7 (White 3), Minnesota State 19 (Clark 6). Steals: Minnesota Duluth 6 (Rasmussen 2), Minnesota State 12 (Kirschbaum, Morrow 3). Turnovers: Minnesota Duluth 17, Minnesota State 14.
Total fouls: Minnesota Duluth 27, Minnesota State 17. Technical foul: Minnesota Duluth (White). Fouled out: Minnesota Duluth (Leaon, White).
Attendance: 3,921.
