FAYETTE, Iowa – Minot State University led by five at halftime, but couldn't hold that lead, giving up 50 second-half points as Upper Iowa rallied for an 82-67 win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Saturday at Dorman Gymnasium.

It was a tale of two halves in scoring and in field goal percentage. MSU shot 48 percent, hitting six 3-pointers in the first half, but shot just 35 percent in the second. The Beavers held UIU to 48 percent shooting and an 0-for-5 effort on 3s in the first half, but allowed 56 percent in the second half.

"I felt like we let our emotions override our composure in a few critical situations in the second half," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "We have to be tougher to continue to make the right play, not try to make the great play. Making the right play is simple, but it's not easy. It takes toughness to make that play over and over and over. We need to be better at that. My job is to make us better at that. We do that, we finish off more games."

The loss dropped the Beavers into a three-way tie with University of Mary and Bemidji State for fourth in the NSIC North Division with just six games remaining. MSU is 6-10 in NSIC play and 10-12 overall. Upper Iowa improved to 16-6 and 13-3.

MSU had a strong finish to the first half to take a five-point lead, 37-32. The game went back-and-forth for the first 30 minutes with six lead changes and six ties before Upper Iowa began to pull away.
UIU used a 17-12 advantage on free throws and a 36-26 cushion in rebounding to help earn the win.

Dennis Austin paced UIU with 21 points and six rebounds, while Jordan Hay scored 16. The duo combined to go 11 for 13 from the free throw line in the win.

Luis Ricci Maia finished with 19 points, hitting three 3-pointers, and added two rebounds, a steal and an assist in the loss for MSU. Tyler Rudolph scored 13 points, pulled down seven rebounds and dished out four assists, while Nathan Mertens finished with 10 points and four assists.

The Beavers will look to rebound with the first two of four straight at home starting Friday with Southwest Minnesota State (8 p.m.). MSU takes on the University of Sioux Falls Saturday (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.