ST. CLOUD, Minn. — The Minot State men’s basketball team was unable to come out victorious to close out the weekend on Saturday evening in a battle against St. Cloud State University.

The Beavers fell 78-73 to St. Cloud State in a contest that went down to the closing seconds.

In the first half, a 7-2 run by Minot State gave them a 16-10 lead with just over 12 minutes to play. Over the next seven minutes, St. Cloud State would outscore the Beavers 11-2, taking a 21-18 lead.

The two teams would trade buckets over the last five minutes of the half to score ten points each. The Beavers were able to bounce back from their tough shooting night in Duluth, shooting 45.5% from the field in the first half.

In this half, it was the turnovers that hurt the Beavers. They uncharacteristically turned the ball over ten times in the first half, leading to the Huskies going into the locker room with a 31-28 lead at the half.

St. Cloud State was able to grab the momentum early on in the second half, scoring seven unanswered, to take a 40-34 lead. However, the Beavers would come right back, cutting it back to one possession after a Kyle Beisch three-pointer. The Huskies would expand the lead back to six before a Beisch four-point play.

Over the next two minutes, the Huskies would extend the lead to eight, the biggest of the game after outscoring the Beavers 9-3. With the Huskies leading 60-52, the Beavers would fight back, scoring four unanswered. However, the Huskies would answer with a 3-pointer, then the Beavers turned the ball over for the 16th time on the following possession.

The Beavers would continue to fight, cutting the lead to six, at 66-60, with under five minutes to play. The Huskies would again expand the lead, this time to nine points with three and a half minutes to play.

The Beavers would not be done yet, as they would score five unanswered to force a Husky timeout with the Husky lead down to 69-65 with 2:28 to play in the game. A St. Cloud State four-point play with just over a minute left would put the Beavers in a tough situation, as the Huskies’ lead grew to 74-65.

Down seven with under a minute to go, the Beavers would start fouling. The Huskies did not seal the game, however as Max Cody would hit three free throws to cut the deficit to 76-73. The Huskies would then seal it, hitting two free throws. The Beavers fell 78-73.

Two 20-point scorers led Minot State with Kyle Beisch scoring 28 to tie a career-high and Max Cody set a new career-high, scoring 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Cody also led the team with nine rebounds. As a team, the Beavers shot over 51%.

The Beavers will be off for a week until their next pair of games. Northern State will visit MSU on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m., and MSU Moorhead will be in Minot on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 5:30 p.m. for the Beavers’ next two NSIC contests.

— MSU athletics