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Missed shots prove costly for MSU MBB in 61-57 loss to SMSU

Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State junior forward Stephane Manzi (11) guards Southwest Minnesota State forward Brian Dayman (30) Friday evening in an NSIC men's basketball game in Minot.

The losing streak continues.

The Minot State men’s basketball team shot a woeful 37% (22.2% in the first half) Friday evening to suffer its 11th straight defeat.

In a battle between the two teams with worst conference records in the Northern Sun, Minot State (6-11, 0-11 NSIC) nearly clawed all the way back but fell short, 61-57, against Southwest Minnesota State (6-11, 3-8 NSIC).

“Every game is so different, which makes it so much fun to coach or play,” MSU head coach Matt Murken said. “I don’t know if we have ever had one like this where it felt like we were getting the shots we needed to get — from the people we need to get them from and from the right spots (on the floor). We just kept missing them.”

Both offenses came out flat.

MSU held SMSU scoreless for the first four minutes of the game. But a 3-pointer by SMSU forward Braedan Hanson — his only points of the game — tied the score at 3-3.

While the Mustangs’ attack eventually got rolling, the Beavers couldn’t buy a basket. MSU was getting the shots they wanted as well.

“We just couldn’t make anything in the first half,” Murken said. “We had to keep emphasizing that, ‘That’s your shot’ and ‘I trust you. I believe in you to shoot that shot again, and again and again.’ That was some of the halftime talk. ‘You have been shooting since you were a kid and have made a lot of them. We will make a lot in the second half, and it will even out.’ It did a little bit, but we never got that spot when we got hot offensively.”

MSU shot an abysmal 6-for-27 (22.2%) in the first half and 1-for-11 (9.1%) on 3-pointers.

“We were getting great shots; we were getting shots we wanted to get,” MSU forward Trevor Rothstein said. “We had to keep shooting the same shots, shoot them with confidence and they’re going to start falling.”

Yet, despite the poor shooting, MSU only trailed by 13 points at halftime, 31-18. Slowly, the Beavers chipped away.

MSU junior guard Max Cody didn’t hit his first shot until under 14 minutes left in the game. After sinking the long-awaited 3-pointer, Cody sarcastically threw both his arms in the air to gesture his disbelief that a shot finally went in.

Fellow backcourt partner Kyle Beisch also found some rhythm. After being held to 2 points in the first half, Beisch finished with 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting.

Also racking up 13 points was Rothstein, who found his shooting touch late in the game. Six of his points came in the last minute of the game when he was fouled on 3-pointers and made all the free throws, plus drained a critical triple with 30.1 seconds left to get MSU within two, 59-57.

“My teammates always tell me to shoot, and I haven’t been shooting that confident lately,” Rothstein said. “It started to pay off at the end there. But, there are a lot more shots to come. Don’t worry.”

Free throws made by Kenny Byers and a handful of desperation 3-pointers missed by MSU brought the game to a close, 61-57.

“I thought we battled enough defensively, even in an ugly offensive game, to have a chance to get a couple stops at the end to win the basketball game,” Murken said. “Proud of that. But, when we would make a run, they seemed to have the ability to hit some tough shots, but also work for a great shot around the rim.”

The Beavers got 7 points apiece from Cody, Kody Dwyer, Stephane Manzi and Sam Ohlrich. Cody also dished out nine assists, and Dwyer pulled down eight rebounds.

Finishing in double figures for SMSU was Jake Phipps (18), Byers (17) and Andy Stafford (11).

“That hole we dug for ourselves in the first half was just a little too much to overcome,” Murken said.

From the worst record in the NSIC South to the best, Sioux Falls comes to Minot this evening for a 5:30 p.m. contest against the Beavers.

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

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