MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University built a 21-point lead in the second half, but had to hold off a couple of runs by Dickinson State late to finish with an 83-76 win in nonconference NCAA Division II men's basketball Tuesday at the MSU Dome.

The Beavers made enough plays and hit enough free throws to fend off the Blue Hawks to run their winning streak to three games this season and to three games in the series that  dates back to the 1920s.

"We had great rhythm, great movement of the ball and delivered our passes on time and on target in the first half," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "We made things look easy at times with proper ball movement. But we went away from that a little in the second half and quit doing some of those things. It looked a lot tougher in the second."

MSU (4-1 overall) pushed a 46-28 halftime lead into a 21-point margin twice in the first five minutes of the second half. The first time came on a 3-pointer by Michael Pelo (Jr., G, Charleston, Utah) and the second just two possessions after on a jumper by Dominique McDonald (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) with 15:11 to play in the game.

"We controlled their man-to-man defense pretty well, but they switched to that zone and switched up the tempo," Murken said.
The aforementioned zone helped the Blue Hawks (3-7 overall) to whittle the lead down to as low as five, both times on points by Tevin Russell, over the next 14 minutes.

The Beavers, however, hit 5 of 6 free-throws in the final 2:22 in the game and got a big jumper from Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) with 1:25 to go. Korf was nearly unstoppable in the first half, scoring 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting on 3-pointers and led all players with 25 points.

"It was great execution from our sets," Murken said of Korf's first half. "Some of the sets were called from the bench and some from our point guards. We looked for Thomas in transition and made the extra pass to get him some open looks."

While Korf had a big offensive night, fellow senior Everett Robinson (G, Grand Junction, Colo.) had arguably his best game as a Beavers, earning his first double-double with 14 rebounds, 12 points and added four assists.

"Everett had a big double-double for us. He is always high energy and seems to make the right play more often than not," said Murken. "He is still learning our system, but he was very good for us tonight."

Russell paced the Blue Hawks with 16 points, while Connor Donaldson ended with 15 points and five rebounds. Jacob Grondrezick scored 14 points and Mackenson Odenier finished with eight rebounds, seven points and four blocks in the loss.

Along with Korf and Robinson, McDonald added 13 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals for the Beavers. Pelo and Winston Williams (Jr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) also scored 13 points each as the Beavers put five players in double figures.

The Beavers will move into Northern Sun play this weekend as they travel to the University of Mary for a 6 p.m. tipoff at the McDowell Activities Center.