Box Score MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University's Samuel Johnson (Sr., F, Las Vegas, Nev.) netted his first double-double with the Beavers – including a highlight reel dunk – to pace MISU to a 77-52 win over Dickinson State in NCAA Division II men's basketball Tuesday at the MSU Dome.

Johnson, who transferred from Montana State-Billings over the summer, finished with career-highs in both points (13) and rebounds (13) and brought the 978 Beavers' faithful to their feet with a huge one-handed rebound putback jam.

"The difference tonight is we cut down turnovers and rebounding much better," Johnson said. "The coaches and our teammates really challenge Chris and I to crash the boards hard and let us know we need to go get rebounds every game."

Johnson and Minot State's Thomas Korf (Jr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.), who scored 18 points on 4 of 6 3-pointers, provided much of the offensive fireworks for the Beavers. Korf scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half.

"He (Korf) may have short as many two point shots this year as he did all of last year, which is good," said MISU head coach Matt Murken. "He is a kid that is hungry to get better and hungry to win. I think Dickinson lost him early and he went off on them and then it the second half we ran a lot of sets with him almost as a decoy to get touches in the lane. That may not show up on the stat sheet but he did a great job with that as well."

Minot State held DSU to just three field goals over the first 9:05 of the second half to push an eight-point lead at halftime into a comfortable 17-point cushion as E.J. Williams (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) capped a 16-7 run with two free throws to give MISU a 55-38 advantage.

When the Beavers (2-0 overall) weren't making shots, they were attacking the offensive boards. Minot State held a big 43-22 rebounding advantage including a 14-4 margin on the offensive glass. Along with Johnson's 13 total and four offensive rebounds, Chris East (Sr., F, Toronto, Ontario) finished with nine rebounds and three offensive boards.

"Our game plan the first time we played them was to beat them up on the inside and we didn't do that," Murken said referring to the Beavers' exhibition win at DSU earlier in the season. "Tonight was a different story; we really challenged them on the glass. Chris and Sam were extremely aggressive and when they do that we can be pretty good."

"They are just animals," Korf added. "They like to go get rebounds and they are always having contests to get more rebounds and that's great, it works out for us."

After a respectable 40.7 percent shooting for the Dickinson State (0-4) in the first half, the Blue Hawks were limited to just 33.3 percent in the second half. Minot State also forced 17 turnovers compared to 15 miscues for MISU.

Phillip Johnson and Tevin Russell led the way for DSU with nine points apiece. Marko Potkonjak added eight points. Johnson led the Blue Hawks with five rebounds.

Along with Korf and Johnson, Lazar Boskovic (Jr., F, Belgrade, Serbia) and Williams finished in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. East added eight points and four steals, while Williams finished with a game-high six assists.

Minot State continues a lengthy home stand with a nonconference tilt Sunday afternoon with Presentation College starting at 3 p.m.