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MSU MBB drops tight contest against Northern State

Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State senior guard Nibra White (4) unloads a mid-range jumper Friday evening against Northern State at the MSU Dome.

Every possession down the stretch mattered.

The Minot State men’s basketball team wasn’t able to make the “winning plays” and Northern State made tough shots.

As a result, the Wolves (7-3, 3-1 NSIC) extended the Beavers’ losing streak to four straight games with a 69-67 road win inside the MSU Dome.

The Beavers (6-4, 0-4 NSIC) remain winless in conference play.

“The game came down to one chance to make a stop and go to overtime,” MSU head coach Matt Murken said. “The guy hit a tough runner, and we couldn’t get a good look in the last three seconds.”

Minot State recovered from a rocky start to even the score at 11-11 following a pair of free throws made by Sam Ohlrich five and a half minutes into the first half.

Both teams couldn’t be separated by more than three points leading into halftime.

MSU junior guard Max Cody got the Beavers a two-point lead going into halftime, 33-31, by driving to the basket and knocking in short pull-up jumper off the glass at the buzzer.

“A good, close basketball game,” Murken said. “They got off (to a good start) early, and we battled back. From there, it was probably three to five points, either way, was the most it got.”

Nibra White and Cody got to the rim twice, and Kody Dwyer added an emphatic dunk to ignite an eight-point spurt for the Beavers in the second half to give MSU a 55-50 lead.

All three finished with double-digit points for the Beavers: Cody (15), Dwyer (11), Kyle Beisch (11) and White (10).

But it wasn’t enough.

“There were a few things we went over in practice several times that we just missed,” Dwyer said. “It’s the little things.”

Coming down to the wire, Cody Dahl and Mason Stark each made difficult shots in the final minute of the contest for the Wolves.

Stark’s final bucket came with 5.2 seconds left on the clock. Stark finished with a game-high 24 points.

“When had opportunities to get stops,” Murken said. “Sometimes they hit tough shots, so that’s a credit to them. But, other times, they missed them, and we couldn’t rebound the first miss. That’s a huge part of the game… Those extra (possessions) down the stretch when its been a back-and-forth game are so crucial.”

Beisch managed to launch a desperation triple at the buzzer that grazed off the rim.

“You can look at 20 different possessions in a game and say, ‘If we did that, we would have won,'” Dwyer said. “It gets super frustrating… But, you just have to keep your head up.”

MSU shot 40.7% from the floor in a game that featured 22 lead changes.

“We had a couple of stretches offensively where we didn’t fight for good enough shots,” Murken said. “We settled a little bit. But, overall, it was a complete battle. Both ways. To their credit, they made the winning plays down the stretch.”

The Beavers have a quick turnaround with a 5:30 p.m. this evening tipoff against Minnesota State Moorhead.

After sweeping the Dragons for the first since joining the NSIC during the 2017-18 season, Minot State dropped both contests last season against Moorhead (93-78, 91-86).

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.

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