×

Beavers sweep Northern State in doubleheader

Men win 79-69; women outlast visitors 89-81 in 2OT

Robert Brewer/MDN MSU senior point guard Max Cody (right) helped lead his club to victory Thursday night as he posted 16 points and seven assists against Northern State University.

The Minot State men’s and women’s basketball programs hosted a conference doubleheader Thursday evening against the Northern State Wolves.

In the first game of the night, the Minot State men’s team (7-1) won its first conference matchup of the year in a 76-69 victory over visiting Northern State.

It was an evenly matched contest during the early portion of the first half as neither club could build a sizeable lead. With 11:27 to go before halftime, the score was tied up at 16-16. Eventually, strong interior defense combined with superior execution allowed Minot State to separate on the scoreboard.

From that point, MSU went on a 14-3 run and jumped out to a 30-19 advantage. The Beavers led by as many as 18 points and took 44-29 lead at intermission. It was a different story at the outset of the second half as the Beavers committed four turnovers in the first six minutes. Due to several other empty offensive possessions, Minot State’s lead had been dwindled down to three at 52-49 with 12:13 to go in the game.

As it turned out, that would be as close as Northern State would get for the remainder of the game. Minot found its offensive rhythm again and managed to go on an 8-0 run to make the score 60-49. A Sam Ohlrich three-pointer followed by a layup from Melvin Newbern as well as a conventional three-point play by Newbern helped push Minot State’s lead back to double digits.

From that point, MSU led by as many as 14 down the stretch on its way to victory. Big man Kody Dwyer was a force in the paint for the Beavers as he finished the night with a team-high 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field. He also contributed with eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior point guard Max Cody posted 16 points and seven assists. As for Newbern, he notched a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.

In the women’s contest later that evening, that game went into overtime. Trailing by three in the closing seconds of the fourth, Minot State sophomore Lucy Champman drilled a wing jumper from downtown to tie the score at 70-70 and force the ballgame into an extra period.

Both teams remained deadlocked at 77-77 after the first overtime session, so the game continued into double overtime. In that period, the Beavers began to separate from the fiesty Wolves. With a little over two minutes remaining and holding a two-point lead, Minot State’s Natasha Elliott connected from downtown to give MSU a two-possession advantage at 84-79.

Then with under a minute to go, center Anna Counts cashed in from the perimeter with a two-pointer as the Beavers extended to a seven-point advantage. From that point on, the MSU defense allowed only one more basket as they closed out a hard earned 89-81 win.

Counts ended the game with a team-high 20 points and four other MSU players concluded the night in double figures. Kate Head posted 15 points, Elliott collected 14, Chapman chipped in with 11 and Emma Mogen scored 10 in the win. It was Minot State’s fourth win of the year in nine games and their conference record improves to 2-0.

Next up on the basketball schedule, both MSU teams plan to be in Moorhead, Minnesota on Saturday in conference doubleheader action against the Dragons. The men’s game is slated for a 1:30 p.m. start while the women’s game will begin at 3:30.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today