Nathan Beitler/MDN File photo of Beavers’ redshirt sophomore guard Kiku Parker Jr. drives the ball to the hoop in their home game against the Bismarck State College Mystics on Wednesday night, Nov. 19.

The Minot State men’s basketball team held second-half leads in both of its games over the weekend, but couldn’t hold on in each, falling to both Augustana and Wayne State at the MSU Dome. The Beavers dropped an 82-75 contest to the Vikings on Friday, Jan. 23, and an 85-77 game to the Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 24.

The Beavers have now lost six straight games – all in conference play.

Friday’s game featured a back-and-forth first half, with neither team being able to separate themselves by more than five points. The game featured eight ties and nine lead changes.

The Beavers fell behind by as many as seven in the opening minutes of the second half, but used a 9-2 run to tie the game at 50 with 16:34 remaining. A basket by Darik Dissette put Minot State in front briefly at 52-51, but the Vikings created some distance with an ensuing 16-4 run. Minot State would only get as close as seven points the rest of the way.

Deuce Benjamin led the Beavers with 21 points. Dissette finished with 19.

Tameron Ferguson had a game-high 24 points for the Vikings. Caden Hinker (17) and Amari Westmoreland-Vendiola (10) also finished in double figures.

On Saturday, the Beavers (8-12 overall, 5-9 NSIC) took a 38-29 lead into halftime, but surrendered 56 points to the Wildcats in the second half. Wayne State erased its nine-point deficit and grabbed the lead at 46-45 after a 3-pointer from Darshan Thomas with 14:31 remaining.

The teams were tied five times down the stretch. A free throw from Benjamin put the Beavers on top 69-68 with 4:48 left, but a 10-3 run by the Wildcats gave them their largest lead of the night at 79-71 with less than a minute remaining.

The Wildcats spoiled a double-double performance from Carson Yale, who scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Benjamin also finished with 17 points to pace the Beavers.

Matt Noll and Andrew Stokes both had 18 points to lead the Wildcats.

The Beavers look to halt their six-game losing streak when they travel to play Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m.