(SEARCY, AR) – The Minot State University Men's Basketball took on the Harding University Bison in Arkansas on Friday night.
 
The Beavers started the game by hitting a couple of three's, and that is indicative of how the rest of the game would go as Minot State was hitting its shots, especially three-point shots.
 
At 13-11 in the first half, the Beavers would start to separate themselves a bit, going on a 7-0 run thanks to buckets by Sam Ohlrich, Nibra White, and a three-point shot by Aleksa Cucovic. The two teams would go back and forth, with the Beavers not allowing the Bison to get much closer. Going into the 10:00 media timeout, the Beavers held the lead 23-18. Out of the timeout, the Beavers would continue shooting well. Kyle Beisch and Sam Ohlrich would expand the Beaver lead to 29-18. The two teams would trade momentum, first with Harding going on an 8-0 run. The Beavers would close out the half outscoring the Bison 5-2 to take a 34-28 lead in the locker room.
 
Half time did not cool down the Beaver hot hands as they came out with another three-pointer, this time by Trevor Rothstein. The two teams would continue to trade buckets, with the Beavers able to keep the Bison at arms reach. A 4-0 spurt would force a Bison timeout, with Minot State leading 48-38. The timeout would not slow the Beavers, however as they would score another four unanswered points giving the Beavers their biggest lead at 52-38. The Bison defense did not have any answers for the hot shooting Beavers. Over the next several minutes, the Beavers would hold leads of 16 and a game-high 17 points with just over three and a half minutes to play. The Bison would start to chip away, but it would be for naught as the Beavers held on for a 78-65 season-opening victory.
 
 
Beaver Leaders:
Kyle Beisch scored 21 points on 6-17 shooting · Max Cody scored 18 and added seven assists · The other double-digit scorer for the Beavers was Trevor Rothstein, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds · Sam Ohlrich came off the bench to score nine points on 4-5 shooting in 19 minutes.
 
Game Notes:
The Beavers outshot the Bison 47.5% to 45.3% · The Beavers hit 12 three-point shots, compared to two from Harding · Minot State only got to the charity stripe ten times but took full advantage, making all of them · The Beavers also outrebounded the Bison 37-27.
 
Media: For more information, contact the Coordinator of Sports Information Josh Van Valkenburg-Gernert