Men's Basketball | October 28, 2015

DICKINSON, N.D. – Minot State University capitalized on 30 Dickinson State fouls, hitting 32 of 43 free throws to pull away from the Blue Hawks 78-71 in exhibition NCAA Division II men's basketball Wednesday at Scott Gymnasium.

The Beavers led by two at halftime but trailed by six with 9:44 to play in the game.

MSU righted the ship, however, going on a 17-7 run capped by a 3-pointer from Chris Davis (Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) off a feed from Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) with 4:35 to go. From there, key free throws by Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.), Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) and Stevan Jovanovic (So., F, Novi Sad, Serbia) salted the game away.

The Beaver held a huge 32-9 advantage at the free-throw line, shooting 74.4 percent from the line. MSU committed just 14 fouls compared to 30 for DSU.

Dickinson State hit 43.55 percent from the field and hit seven more field goals than the Beavers in the game. Julian Vasquez led four Blue Hawks in double figures with 22 points.

Jovanovic paced Minot State, hitting 9 of 10 from the line for 17 points. He added five rebounds to his point total. Davis chipped in with 16 points and added six rebounds, Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) nearly finished with a double-double as he scored 15 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and Williams added 10 points and four rebounds.

Rudolph, Davis and Mertens, who finished with six rebounds, helped the Beavers hold a commanding 40-30 rebounding edge.

The Beavers will begin its regular season on the road as MSU travels to Lancaster, Texas to take on two Great American Conference teams Southern Arkansas and Henderson State Nov. 13 and 14.