Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State University senior Mitch Boeck tallied his second straight 30-point effort to lead three players in double figures as the Wolves survived a late University of Mary rally to escape with a critical 78-75 win over the NCAA Central Region's ninth-ranked team Saturday evening in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action.

The win, NSU's fourth straight, moves the Wolves to 12-11 overall and an even 8-8 in conference play.  That, along with a triple-overtime loss by Southwest Minnesota State University at Concordia-St. Paul, gives the Wolves sole possession of the seventh place spot in the NSIC standings, which are used to determine pairings in the post-season tournament.

The Marauders, meanwhile, drop their third straight decision – all on the road – and now stand at 13-10 overall and 9-7 in league action.  Saturday's loss, coupled with Concordia's win, puts the Marauders in sixth place in the conference.

Boeck, who scored seven of the team's first 11 points of Saturday's game to become the 45th player in NSU history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau, was the focal point of the Marauder defense, but still managed to get off 17 total shots to counter a 34-point effort from U-Mary point guard Anthony Moody.  Moody drained 4 of 7 three-point attempts, several from deep on the floor, to keep the Marauders close.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Wolves used a 12-4 run to open the second half and carve out a 51-39 lead by the 14-16 mark.  The Wolves would stretch that lead to 14 at 57-43 on a Casey Becker 3-pointer – one of two treys on the night for the sophomore forward – at the 12 minute mark.

It was then the Marauders launched their comeback effort.  Three different Marauder players hit from long range on three straight possessions in a span of less than a minute to trim the NSU lead to five points by the 6:16 mark.  The Wolves would stretch it back out to an 11-point advantage with just under three minutes to play, but watched the Marauders again use the long ball coupled with a pair of Moody free throws and a driving coast-to-coast lay-up to cut the lead to 74-73 with 38 seconds left to go.

NSU junior Derek Hoellein then drained both ends of a 1-and-1 opportunity to make it a three-point game, but a second Moody lay-up again cut the lead to one point with 13 seconds to go.

The Wolves inbounded the ball to the senior Boeck, who was immediately fouled.  One of the best free throw shooters in the country, Boeck also nailed both ends of his 1-and-1 opportunity to keep it a 3-point game.

U-Mary took their ensuing possession and fired off a contested three-point attempt from the right side, but missed.  Neither team, however, was able to gain possession of the ball before it bounced out of bounds along the left sideline just before the final buzzer sounded.  After some deliberation, the officials put 0.4 of a second back on the clock, leaving the Marauders time for one last game-tying effort.

Junior Eric Erdmann took the inbounds pass for the Marauders and got off a fall-away three-point attempt from the left corner, but left the shot just short, allowing the Wolves to head to the locker room with their fourth straight victory.
NSU redshirt freshman Collin Pryor turned in a solid performance in the lane for the Wolves, going 7-for-9 from the field to finish with 17 points and seven rebounds.  Junior Marty Gregor also aided the cause with a career-best 11 rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end of the court.  Becker chipped in 10 points and five boards for the Wolves, who edged the Marauders in the battle of the glass by a 34-30 count.

Along with Moody's 24 points, U-Mary got 19 points from Erdmann, but just eight points from their bench.  The Marauders, who lead the nation in fewest turnovers per game, committed just nine turnovers on Saturday, but still fell to just 2-9 on the season in road games.

The Wolves, who are 8-3 in their last 11 games, now turn their attention to next weekend's games, as they remain at home to face Augustana and Wayne State in another set of key NSIC match-ups.  Tip-off for both games is set for 8 p.m. in NSU's Wachs Arena.  Both contests will also be carried live on Midcontinent Communications Channel 23.