MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University junior Tyler Rudolph scored a career-high 34 points and added 13 rebounds to help lift the Beavers to a 77-66 win over the University of Sioux Falls in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Saturday at the Minot State Dome.

Rudolph was nearly unstoppable in the second half, finishing with 24 points and adding eight rebounds in the half alone to help the Beavers erase a 37-35 halftime deficit. He nearly outscored USF by himself – 29-24 – after the break.

"We joked about it in the locker room, I don't know if a guy's had 34 points by doing less," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "Don't take anything away from Tyler, he's a great player, but we executed extremely well on the offensive end. We have been preaching to our forwards about doing more with less and our execution was excellent in the second half. He probably had 10 layups."

MSU (11-13 overall, 7-11 NSIC) snapped a three-game losing streak and moved back into a tie with Bemidji State and the University of Mary for fourth place in the NSIC North Division with two weekends to play.

Rudolph's second half helped produce solid numbers for a multiple MSU's players. Russ Davis hit 3 of his 5 3-pointers in the second half – one on an assist from Rudolph – and Luis Ricci Maia and Nathan Mertens combined for seven assists in the second half, four going to Rudolph.

"Ricci Maia, Nate Mertens, Nate Moore and Russ Davis all did a great job of making the passes," Murken said. "We were just really crisp. I thought it was one of our better games we have played this year. I thought we missed some really good looks too and still won the game. We guarded them really well, limited them to just 3 of 18 on 3s and Nate (Mertens) did a good job on one of their best kids. It was a great way to bounce back."

MSU made a quick 12-3 run to start the second half, but couldn't shake the Cougars (13-13, 9-9).

After Rudolph gave MSU a 47-40 lead with two free throws, USF's Mack Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Beavers lead to four with 15:19 to play. Johnson made another outstanding individual effort to tie the game at 59 on a layup, but Davis canned a 3 for the Beavers on the next possession, sparking a 10-2 run that pushed it to eight over the next two minutes.

MSU never trailed after the early run.

"(Drew) Guebert and Johnson hit some unbelievable shots, contested shots, to keep them in the game," Murken said. "But our defense was really good overall and they started missing some of those contested shots in the second half."

Johnson finished with 16 points, but needed 20 shots to get there and was 1 for 9 from beyond the arc. Guebert added 16 off the bench, while Zach Wessels finished with 11 points and nine rebounds for USF.

Maia reached double figures scoring with 14 and added seven assists and four rebounds. Davis knocked down 5 of 8 3-pointers for 15 points. Trevor Rothstein hit two 3s for six points and pulled down four rebounds for the Beavers.

MSU will finish off its home NSIC schedule next weekend with a pair of NSIC North Division games, taking on Minnesota Duluth Friday and St. Cloud State Saturday.

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.