Box Score MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University was outscored 21-4 from the free-throw line in the game as Bemidji State pulled away late to take a 84-68 win over MISU in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Saturday at the Minot State Dome.

MISU (7-11 overall, 3-11 NSIC) was outscored 45-33 in the second half as Bemidji (14-4, 11-3) sank 17 of 18 free throws after the mid break.

"I thought we lost our focus a little bit and didn't finish the game off. We let some things outside our control get to us; we've got to be more mentally tough to finish that game off," said MISU head coach Matt Murken. "It was an extremely competitive game with two teams going at it hard for 34 minutes. We just didn't finish enough plays, whether it was free throws, finishes at the rim. We just didn't get it done."

The final score was anything but indicative of how the game was played as MISU lead much of the first half before a late BSU run gave Bemidji at 39-35 halftime lead. It was back and forth in the second half until the late breakaway by BSU. In fact, MISU tied the game with just under seven minutes to play on a Chris East (Sr., F, Toronto, Ontario) layup.

"Lazar (Lazar Boskovic, Jr., F, Belgrade, Serbia) got himself in some foul trouble early on and we didn't have a lot of subs for him," Murken said. "So Chris had to fight and battled with some big guys quite a bit of the time. He did a pretty good job battling; he rolled hard to the rim and did a nice job finishing at the rim at times."

It was still a one possession game at 66-63 until a jumper from BSU's Brock Lutes gave Bemidji State a 68-63 lead with 4:40 to play. BSU outscored Minot State 18-5 in the final five minutes.

"Give Bemidji credit, they made plays and finished plays when they needed to. They would get to the lane or make that extra pass or a guy would finish through contact and get a big three-point play," said Murken.  "They did a good job with that tonight and were a little tougher than us, in the regard."

BSU had solid balance as Lutes led four players in double figures with 23. Zach Noreen scored 21 points, Jake Schalow added 18 and Maxie Rosenbloom notched a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. BSU held a 33-22 advantage on the boards.

East and E.J. Williams (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) paced MISU with 13 points apiece. East pulled down six rebounds as well. Dominique McDonald (So., G, Raleigh, N.C.) scored 12 points and dished out four assists, while Thomas Korf (Jr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) scored 11 in the loss.

Minot State moves to the road for the next two weekends, traveling to Concordia St. Paul Friday and nationally ranked Minnesota State Saturday in NSIC North/South crossover games.