MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University has played some exciting basketball over the past two months – especially at the MSU Dome.

Saturday was no different.

The Beavers hit the 90 point park for the second straight home game and won for the eighth time in nine tries at the Dome, sweeping the season series from Minnesota Duluth 90-82 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball.

"It was really fun to watch our guys this weekend," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "We moved the basketball so well and everyone is willing to make the extra pass. We shoot 59 percent yesterday and 54 today and that's a credit to finding the open man."

The win guaranteed the Beavers (15-13 overall, 10-12 NSIC) their first winning record since joining NCAA Division II and the team's first winning record since going 18-11 in 2009-10. MSU finished 11-4 overall at the Dome.

"We've played good basketball down the stretch and especially at home," Murken said.

MSU secured the win Saturday in much of the same fashion it has over the past two months. The Beavers knocked down 3s from multiple players, got a big defensive night from Nathan Mertens (Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) and rode another double-double by Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.).

Seniors Chris Davis (G, Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Michael Pelo (G, Charleston, Utah) combined for seven triples in the game, while Rudolph hit two and Mertens another as MSU went 10 for 20 from beyond the arc.

"Not only was he new to our program, but he didn't play last year. That's two obstacles to overcome," Murken said of Davis. "It took him a little while to get going, but he showed flashes of it during those early games. He needed to get his game legs back and get his confidence back. To his credit, he came here early in the summer and played pickup games with the guys to help him get into that a couple games before Christmas. He's been pretty good since then."

Mertens, who finished with eight points and six assists, held the league's second leading scorer UMD's Pierre Newton to 10 under his season average and just 4 of 14 shooting from the floor a night after he stymied SCSU's Scottie Stone – No. 4 in scoring – much of the night.

"Nate's a phenomenal athlete, long reach and has great hands," Murken said. "But probably more important is he anticipates really well. He knows guys strengths and weaknesses and takes advantage of it. By the time they got a look, they've been running all over the court. His conditioning is great and he's tough enough to play through whatever fatigue he might have."

Rudolph finished with his league-leading 12th double-double of the season scoring 21 points and adding 11 rebounds. He was 7 of 10 from the free throw line.

Minot State led for all but 3:12 of the game and had a double figure lead for much of the first 12 minutes of the second half before UMD (15-13, 11-11) made a push to cut it to just two points at 70-68 on a 3-pointer by Brendon Pineda with 6:01 to play.
The Beavers, however, responded as Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) started an 11-0 run that reached a crescendo on a Pelo 3 for an 81-68 lead with 2:57 to play.

UMD's Taylor Lavery scored a game-high 33 points on 8 of 10 free throw shooting and 11 of 20 form the floor to keep the Bulldogs in the game. Pineda scored 18 points and ended with five rebounds for UMD in the loss.

Davis led Minot State with 24 points, knocking down all seven of his free throws, 3 of 6 3-pointers and added four rebounds in the win. Pelo scored 18 points on 4 of 7 triples, while Mertens and Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) scored eight apiece and combined for 10 assists.

Minot State moved all the way up to a tie with St. Cloud State for fifth in the NSIC North, but the Huskies earned the tiebreaker sending MSU to Winona State Wednesday as the sixth seed in the NSIC / Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament.

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.