MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University built a 19-point first-half lead, but were outscored 54-32 in the second half as Wayne State College rallied for an 85-80 win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Saturday at the Minot State Dome.

"We've got to keep our focus on the defensive end," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "We were not engaged, not in stance, not talking. You can't win games, no matter what you do on offense, if you can't play defense. We did at times this weekend, but certainly didn't do it in the second half."

The Beavers (5-6 overall, 1-4 NSIC) raced out to the 19-point lead on a 3-pointer by Russ Davis with 2:32 to play in the first half. MSU still led by 17 at the break and continued to hold a double figures lead until 10:13 of the second half.
But Wayne State (3-7, 2-3) went on a 20-4 run over the next seven minutes of the game to take a 77-71 lead on a pair of free throws by Matt Thomas.

Minot State got it as close as one on a three-point play by Nathan Mertens with 19 seconds to go, but WSC struck right back with a layup by Vance Janssen and iced it with two Janssen free throws after a MSU missed 3.

"I just feel like we lost focus in the second half," Murken said. "We were loose a little with the basketball on the offensive end and our movement slowed down as well. But, we shoot 56 percent from the field, that's good enough to win. It comes back to defense."

The tale of two halves was most glaring on 3-pointers. MSU was 6 of 8 in the first half as Russ Davis knocked down four in the half alone. But the Beavers failed to connect on a 3 on seven attempts after the break. WSC, however, hit 8 of 13 in the second half and went 11 for 20 overall.

Janssen led six players WSC players in double figures with 16 points and added four rebounds in the win.

Mertens paced all players with 21 points, hitting 7 of 8 free throws and 7 of 10 overall. He also finished with three assists and three rebounds. Tyler Rudolph added 14 points and three rebounds, Davis 13 points and five boards and Stevan Jovanovic scored 10 points and led team with seven rebounds.

Minot State finishes off the 2016 season with rival University of Mary Saturday night at the Dome starting at 6 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.