MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University had just a little more bounce in is step Friday.

That can come from returning home after a four-game road swing sporting a five-game home winning streak.
Make that six-game.

The Beavers canned 11 3-pointers and turned the ball over just eight times as MSU ran away from Concordia-St. Paul 81-67 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Saturday in front of 1,331 fans at the MSU Dome.

"I thought we came out and flew around a little tonight," MSU head coach Matt Murken said of his team's start. "Even late, we had some breakdowns in the second half and they get a back door play and Brandon Pines (Sr., F, Jessup, Md.) is there for a big block and then blocked another later. We have to have that. We have to have great energy and help each other out and we've sure had that at home."

Minot State (11-12 overall, 6-11 NSIC) has won five straight NSIC games at the Dome and hasn't lost in Minot in 2016. The Beavers moved to within a game of Bemidji State for sixth in the NSIC North and are just two games back of St. Cloud State for fifth with five games to go in the regular season.

MSU jumped out to a double-digit lead early on behind 3-pointers by Chris Davis (Sr., G, Colorado Springs, Colo.), Tyler Rudolph (So., F, Bismarck, N.D.), Luis Ricci Maia (So., G, Franca, Sao Paola, Brazil) and Michael Pelo (Sr., G, Charleston, Utah). MSU hit right of its 11 3s in the first half.

Pelo, Maia and Winston Williams (Sr., F, Plainfield, Ill.) combined for 40 points off the bench as Williams led all scorers with 18 and Pelo finished with five triples for 17.

"I thought those two were good," Murken said of Pelo and Williams. "When Winston has been good this year, we've done well. I thought he was aggressive today and was locked in. Mike got some good looks early and got us going. Thirty five for those guys and five more by Ricci, that's good production from the bench."

But the Golden Bears (8-15, 5-12) hung around much of the first three-quarters of the game. MSU led by nine at half and couldn't stretch it above 13 until late. MSU, however, had the answer when CSP cut the lead to its lowest point, four with 7:21 to play.

MSU scored the game's next six points on free throws by Dominique McDonald (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.), Davis and a layup by Rudolph and outscored CSP 16-2 over the next six minutes. During that stretch, Pines had his two blocks and MSU milked the clock effectively as it added points.

"We had some good possessions late," Murken said. "We made them play defense for long stretches and got the basket or were fouled late in the possession. It was good execution overall by us down the stretch."

The second half also gave MSU a milestone as McDonald's swooping layup just a minute into the half was his 1,000th career point. He became just the 15th player to reach the milestone.

"He is the first guy to get all 1,000 at NCAA Division II and he is on pace to have 1,000 points, 400 assists and 300 rebounds," Murken said. "We don't think anyone else has done that combination.

"He and Nate (Nathan Mertens, Jr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.) are the two guys that know what we want to accomplish and they call out what we are doing to get Mike shots and Chris shots and Winston and Rudy the ball. Dom has really become a point guard again and (passing) has been a big part of his game that sometimes goes unnoticed."

McDonald finished with six points, five assists and four rebounds in the game.

Mike Yahnke scored 13 points to lead Concordia-St. Paul, while matt Ambriz and Diallo Powell added 11 each. MSU held CSP leading scorer Cole Olstad to just seven points, eight under his average. Shea Mandli paced the Golden Bears with seven rebounds and added nine points in the loss.

Along with Williams and Pelo, Davis and Rudolph both reached double figures in scoring. Davis hit three 3-pointers on his way to 15 points, while Rudolph had a "quiet" 14 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"He's just really good and people are figuring out that he's good and he's getting more attention," said Murken when asked about Rudolph's lower offensive production. "It's pretty nice to say he didn't have a great night and had 14 and 11."

MSU will look to make it seven straight as the Beavers play host to Minnesota State Saturday starting at 6 p.m. at the Dome.

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.