BOX SCORE

FARGO, N.D. – Minot State University started fast and finished strong but couldn't keep pace with NCAA Division I North Dakota State in between, falling 81-69 in exhibition men's basketball Wednesday at the Scheels Arena.

"We competed pretty well for the most part outside of a six to seven minute stretch to start the second half," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "We are trying to find out what we do well and continue to do that and are trying to fix what we don't do well. This was good test for us early on to figure those things out."

The Beavers opened with a 9-5 run courtesy of Michael Pelo (Jr., G, Charleston, Utah), who had three 3-pointers in the burst, and generally played the Bison tough in the first half.

"Mike is still learning, but is smart and is a mature guy and is learning it really quickly," Murken said. "He has only had about 17 practices in our system. He really feeds off other people's drives and needs to get to the right spot and, boy, he got to the right spots tonight. Nate did a great job of move the ball around and finding him to get those shots."

MSU also had leads of 11-8 on a layup by Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) and 12-8 on a free throw by Nathan Mertens (So., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) early but, after NDSU's AJ Jacobson and Lawrence Alexander hit back-to-back buckets to give the Bison a 13-12 advantage, the Beavers did not lead again.

But MSU did not go away and it took a late 3-pointer by Alexander just before the halftime buzzer to make it a 36-30 NDSU lead.

"They really rely on LA (Alexander) and he is a great player," Murken said. "He kept them in the lead early when we were playing well. He has a lot of experience and is a great player for them."

The Alexander 3 sparked a 26-9 run spanning the end of the first half and about six minutes into the second half by the Bison to open up a double figure lead. The lead hovered around 20 much of the half thanks mainly to NDSU's Paul Miller's shooting as he hit 12 of his team-high 19 point in the second half.

"I thought we had some bad offensive possessions that put our defense in a tough spot and put us into scramble mode on defense," said Murken. "Give NDSU credit, they did a good job in transition and a good job passing. We were pretty solid in our base defense, but they were good in transition.

"Plus, their front line is extremely physical and we didn't handle that, especially early on. We talked about their physicality and that's the kind of teams we will see in the Northern Sun. We will need to get better there."

MSU, again, did not go away in the second half and went on a 10-0 run to end the game, but any comeback attempt fell short. The Beavers used the 3-pointer to keep in the game, hitting 48 percent of their 3s, 12 of 25, while shooting 46.9 overall. MSU was 11 of 24 on two point baskets and 11 for 18 on free throws.

Alexander joined Miller and two other Bison in double figures with 18 points. Kory Brown pulled down six rebounds to go along with seven points for NDSU.

Pelo paced the Beavers with a game-high 22 points, hitting 6-of-9 3-pointers and 7 for 10 overall. He had four rebounds and an assist as well. Dominique McDonald (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) came off the bench and scored 13 points and dished out four assists. Winston Williams (Jr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) scored eight points and Robinson pulled down five rebounds in the loss for MSU.

"We need to continue to be a hungry basketball team and continue to improve," Murken said. "Again, I was pretty happy with how we played tonight, but I think we only scratched the surface of what we can do."

The Beavers are on the road for the season opener, facing former Dakota Athletic Conference foe and current NCAA Division II member South Dakota Mines & Technology in Rapid City, S.D., Friday.