DULUTH, MN -- Ayouba Berthe knocked down the game-tying free throws with just three seconds left in the second half to send the game into overtime, and the Minot State men's basketball team knocked off the East Central Tigers 108-99 on Friday.
Head coach Matt Murken was pleased to see a nice effort coming from a collective unit to start the 2024-25 campaign.
"Today was a total team effort. Multiple guys really stepped up and gutted out a tough win. Certainly there are a lot of things to improve but we played a team that made big shot after big shot and we still found a way to get a win," Murken said.
The Beavers (1-0) had five players score in double figures, led by Jalen Cook, who had 27 points. Caleb Van De Griend added a double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds and Berthe helped out with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks.
The Minot State offense made hay from deep, making 12 threes on 40 attempts. Jaxon Gunville hit five treys for the Beavers in the contest.
Minot State did a great job disrupting East Central shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Dylan Gichaba led the way individually for the Beavers with three rejections.
How It Happened
After falling behind 33-32, Minot State went on a 5-0 run with 3:09 left in the first half to take a 37-33 lead. The Beavers then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 39-37 advantage. Minot State took advantage of 16 offensive rebounds to score 19 second chance points out of 39 total in the period
Minot State kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run to grow the lead to 62-56 with 9:42 to go in the contest. The Tigers then fought back to even things up at 71-71 and send the game to overtime. Berthe's free throws sent the contest to an extra period with just three seconds left. Minot State took care of business in the paint, recording 16 of its 32 points in the lane.
Minot State grabbed a 98-95 lead with 3:04 left in the third overtime before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Berthe's jumper, to grow its advantage to 103-95 with 2:05 to go in the frame. The Beavers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 108-99 win.
Game Notes
» Minot State got double-doubles from both Caleb Van De Griend and Sam West.
» Minot State lit it up from beyond the arc, knocking down 12 treys in the game.
» Minot State tallied 19 total assists in the game.
» Jaxon Gunville and Jalen Cook each knocked down five threes to lead a Minot State shooting attack that had two players sink five or more shots from beyond the arc.
» Every Minot State starter scored in double figures.
» Five Minot State players scored 10 or more points.
» Minot State had a 60-40 edge on the boards in the win.
» The Minot State defense forced 14 turnovers.
» The Beavers were active in affecting shots on the defensive end, tallying five blocks as a team.
» Minot State cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 22 offensive boards in the game.
» The Beavers had three players score over 20 points in the contest. Jalen Cook led the way with 27 points, Caleb Van De Griend had 20, and Ayouba Berthe added 20.
» Caleb Van De Griend grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds to lead Minot State and Sam West added 12.
This article was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.
