VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Minot State University built a double digit lead early in the second half and held off a late charge by Valley City State to take a 72-65 exhibition NCAA Division II men's basketball win Monday.
 
The Beavers played the first of two road exhibition games against former Dakota Athletic Conference rivals, playing at Dickinson State Wednesday night.
 
Minot State led 32-27 at halftime thanks to a late surge that ended with a 3-pointer by Trevor Rothstein on a feed from Nathan Mertens just before the halftime buzzer. The lead grew to as many as 13 points midway through the second half and hovered above 10 points for much of the game until a late surge by VCSU cutting the lead to five.
 
MSU responded down the stretch, however, with a basket by Stevan Jovanovic and free throws by Rothstein and Luis Ricci Maia to outscore the Vikings 40-38 in the second half.
 
The Beavers finished with great offensive balance as four players scored at least eight points led by returning All-Northern Sun performer Tyler Rudolph. Rudolph finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and adding 10 rebounds. He hit 8 of 18 shots in the win.
 
VCSU, playing their third game of the season, got a game-high 26 points from Jayden Ferguson and 18 from Rashad Satahoo as the duo combined to score 44 of the team's 65 points. VCSU went to the line 26 times, outscoring Minot State 20-11 from the line as MSU was whistled for 26 fouls.
 
Along with Rudolph, Rothstein and Mertens both reach double figures. Rothstein finished with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and added four rebounds. Mertens scored 14, pulled down three rebounds and added two assists. Maia added eight points and two rebounds in the win.
 
MSU plays at Dickinson State Wednesday before starting the regular season in Texas with nonconference games against Henderson State and Southern Arkansas Nov. 11 and 12. The game at DSU will be a double header with the women's game starting at 6:30 p.m. and the men following at 8:30 p.m., both in exhibition for the Beavers
 
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.