Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State senior guard Kyle Beisch (3) rises up for a layup Friday evening against Winona State inside the MSU Dome.

Catastrophic turnovers cost the Minot State men’s basketball team its chance at upending Winona State Friday evening in Minot.

Even with a second-half surge, the Beavers (10-13, 4-13 NSIC) weren’t able to close out Winona State (13-10, 10-7 NSIC) in large part due to turning the ball in critical situations.

The Warriors escaped with a 73-68 road win.

“We had 10 turnovers in the game, but we had to have four or five of those in the last 10 minutes of the game,” MSU head coach Matt Murken said. “At least three of those led directly to baskets for them. We call them catastrophic turnovers.”

The opening minutes were sluggish at both ends. Missed shots kept the score low and close. Tied at 14-14, Winona State pulled away with a three-point shooting showcase.

Kevion Taylor made four triples in the first half, and let the Beavers’ bench know with a couple of glare backs and some chatter.

“Me personally, I let two or three 3-pointers get hit right in my face,” MSU senior forward Trevor Rothstein said. “It starts with me. I’m a senior, and I have to be better at that. I got to know the scout better than that. Besides that, we got to make them drive and trust our teammates to help us on defense.”

The Warriors went 8-for-16 behind the arc in the first half. Two-thirds of Winona State’s made field goals (12) were 3-pointers.

“We did a much better job in the second half contesting the arc,” Murken said. “We weren’t aggressive with on-ball defense around the arc. We did a lot of other things well, but we didn’t contest well. And that’s a big part of what they do. They shoot jumpers.”

The Beavers trailed 34-27 at halftime.

MSU senior guard Kyle Beisch had a team-high 9 points and eight rebounds at the break. He finished with a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, and helped lead the Beavers’ charge out of halftime.

“We had to give them some reminders about what we do and how we play,” Murken said about the halftime talk. “I don’t know why that happens at times, but we aren’t supposed to be stagnant at the offensive end. We knew what we needed to do. We just didn’t do it. Out of halftime, we did it much better.”

The Beavers went on a 14-6 run to regain the lead at 41-40.

MSU center Kody Dwyer picked up his fourth foul with 10:57 remaining. That meant more minutes for Sam Ohlrich, who was reliable in his own right with 11 points in the contest.

Beisch continued to make plays. A reserve layup, plus the foul, had the Beavers up 55-50.

Then, MSU junior guard Max Cody drained a step-back 3-pointer to beat the shot clock to even the score at 60-60.

Winona State countered with two 3-pointers, one of them came directly off a “catastrophic turnover.”

Rothstein converted a three-point play, 66-63, but Winona State grew its advantage out to 71-65 with 53.7 seconds remaining.

“We started moving the ball better in the second half and got some better looks,” Rothstein said. “That’s the reason why we scored more in the second half. But, we had to dig in and get stops on defense. That starts with me.”

The Warriors nearly choked away the game at the free-throw line. Caleb Wagner missed five straight free throws to give MSU four extra possessions.

Cody, who ended with 14 points, made one desperation triple, but it wasn’t enough.

Wagner finally sunk two free throws in the final seconds to close out the game. As fate would have it, MSU threw up a full-court shot after the final buzzer sounded (the officials had to review it) that somehow went in.

It wouldn’t have made a difference if it had counted, as the final score read 73-68.

“They gave us some opportunities, for sure,” Murken said. “Any time you foul, you are hoping they miss one or two. They missed five in a row. We took a little bit of advantage of it, but not enough to win the game.”

Wagner (26 points) and Taylor (23) paced the Warriors’ attack. Winona State shot 40.3%, making 12 3-pointers.

MSU was 46% from the floor and outrebounded Winona State 41-33.

“At times, I thought we played passively and played not to make mistakes,” Murken said. “You got to be the aggressor. I don’t want to say we let a game get away, but we certainly let some possessions get away, and that’s frustrating.”

Another South Division foe comes to Minot this evening, as the Beavers welcome Upper Iowa to the MSU Dome. Tipoff at 5:30 p.m.

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