MINOT, N.D. – With a defender guarding him closely Luis Ricci Maia shot and made a three-pointer that tied the game at 51-51 with 10 minutes left to play. In those remaining 10 minutes the Minot State University men's basketball team was outscored 27 to 15 by the University of Mary who came out on top 78-66.
 
The game was close almost the entire way through until Mary pulled away at the end. With the lead changing 11 times and the game tied 10 times the Beavers and Marauders went back and forth throughout the game.
 
Mary went into the locker room at halftime up 29-28 due to a last second three-point shot made as the buzzer sounded. Both teams shot under 40 percent in the first half and would improve in the second, only the Marauders improved a bit more.
 
"The second half we didn't guard very well at all," said head coach Matt Murken. "They had 49 points in the second half and shot 60 percent. The first half we took them out of their transition pretty well and held them to 29, which was a good effort on the defensive end of the court and in the second half they came out and we were just not good enough on that end."
 
Comparing the 60 percent the Marauders shot to the Beavers 43.8 in the second half shows where the game went south for MSU. Three-point shots also added up in the Minot State loss as Mary shot two more beyond the arc, but made 5 more, including going six-for-nine in the second half.
 
MSU once again made the most of their attempts from the foul line hitting 16 of their 20 free throw attempts, making it the third game of the season making 75 percent of their shots or better. The Marauders struggled in comparison only making 62.5 percent of their free throw attempts.
 
Both of the teams were even on the boards rebounding the ball 35 times while both sides also turned the ball over a total of 11 times making the three-point shooting the deciding factor in the game.
 
Tyler Rudolph led the team with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Dominique McDonald finished with 14 points of his own, while Nathan Mertens led the team with five assists.
 
Minot State will play its second conference match of the year on December 4 at the MSU Dome against Minnesota State University Moorhead. The game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
 
 
About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.