MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University had one offensive lull all night.

While the slowed scoring pace midway through the second half tightened the game up, the Beavers offense was more than St. Cloud State could handle.

MSU won for the sixth time in its last seven home games, stretched its overall winning streak to three games to move above .500 with a 97-89 win over the Huskies in NSIC men's basketball Friday at the Minot State Dome.

"Sharing the ball offensively really stood out for us tonight," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "We had great movement on the offensive end. It was a complete team effort. We shot 60 percent from the floor and our individuals played to their individual strengths."

The Beavers (14-13 overall, 9-12 NSIC) moved into a tie with SCSU for fifth place in the NSIC North Division with one game to play. MSU becomes a fan of rival University of Mary – a slight fan – as SCSU travels south to face the Marauders while MSU plays host to Minnesota Duluth Saturday in the season finale.

Minot State has lost just one time in 2016 at the Dome and cruised for nearly 30 minutes Friday. MSU led for all but 1:12 of the game, pushed a lead to as many as 16 late in the first quarter and led by double figures nearly all of the second half.

But the Huskies (12-15, 9-12) did not go away and eventually cut the 16-point lead to just four points as Scottie Stone hit two free throws to make it 82-78 with 3:12 to play.

MSU responded with a huge 3-pointer by Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) from the left wing off a feed from Luis Ricci Maia (So., G, Franca, Sao Paulo, Brazil) on the Beavers next possession.

Mertens scored nine of his career-high 24 points over the final six minutes and had two big defensive stops, one slapping the ball away from an SCSU driving player and the other on an offensive foul during the same time span.

"He did a great job defensively on a guy that averages 20 points a game," Murken said of Mertens' defense on SCSU's leading scorer Stone. "He held him to single digits throughout the game until he had a late run with about seven or nine down the stretch once the game was close to over. Awesome defensive effort.

"We just kept asking him from about the 14-minute mark on if he could play the rest of the game and to tell us if he needed a quick break because we wanted to leave him out there. I didn't realize he had that great of an offensive night. He was driving it hard and they weren't helping off on our shooters and he finished over and over again. Pretty complete game from him."

Mertens, along with seniors Dominique McDonald (G, Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Davis (G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Maia helped the Beavers to 17 assists in the game. McDonald scored 15 points and added six assists, Davis hit five 3-pointers for 16 points and dished out three assists and Maia scored nine points and added two assists in the game.

SCSU had four in double figures as Gage Davis scored 24 points and Mark Hall added 20 in the loss. Stone finished with 19 points but hit just 2 of 7 3-pointers in the game and Jon Averkamp added 13 points for SCSU.

Post players Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) and Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.) combined for 29 points and 12 rebounds as Rudolph just missed another double-double with 14 and nine. The duo, along with Stevan Jovanovic (So., F, Novi Sad, Serbia) helped the Beavers to a 40-26 advantage in the paint.

The Beavers shot 65.4 percent in the second half, hitting 17 of 26 shots and knocked down 35 of 59 in the game. Mertens was 9 for 10 from the field, while Williams hit 6 of 8 and Davis 5 of 8 from the floor.

MSU will look to close out the regular season with a win and lock up fifth with a 6 p.m. tip with UMD.

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.