Box Score
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MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Northern State Wolves watched a 12-point halftime lead slowly evaporate through the second half of play, as the host Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons abandoned a cold three-point shooting effort and gravitated toward a physical inside game, while what was a solid shooting night in the first half turned decidedly colder in the second half for the Wolves. 
 
The end result was a 66-60 victory by the Dragons, who snapped a four-game losing skid and earned a season sweep over the Wolves in the process.  MSU Moorhead, once ranked as high as 16^th in the nation and atop the NSIC standings, improved to 14-5 overall and 10-5 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.  NSU slipped to 12-8 overall and an even 8-8 in league play.
 
The Wolves came roaring out of the gates in the first half, thanks to 13 points from sophomore Trent Zomer.  The 6-foot-6 big man came off the bench to can a pair of treys to and capped his hot start with an alley-oop and-one off a Collin Pryor pass.  NSU went 14-for-24 from the floor in the half, including 5-for-9 from long range in the half.
 
In contrast, the Dragons, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the league, were just 8-for-26 in the opening stanza and 1-for-10 from beyond the arc.  The combination of events added up to a 34-22 NSU advantage at the break.
 
The second half, however, was a reversal of fortunes for both teams, as MSU Moorhead went away from the 3-point shot, taking only five long range attempts and relying on the efforts of center Alex Novak and point guard DJ Hamilton, who scored 29 of their 31 combined points in the second half.
 
The Dragons went on a 7-0 run to open the second half with Novak and front court running mate Eric Olson combining for all seven points on the run.  NSU broke the scoring drought on a pair of free throws from Geoffrey Firmin, who stepped to the line in place of freshman Seth Bachand, who was fouled hard and poked in the eye by Olson, losing a contact lens in the process. 
 
The score stayed in the 5- to 7-point range until another 6-0 run by the Dragons cut the NSU advantage to just one at 40-39 at the 11:54 mark.
 
MSUM tied the game for the first time at the 10:30 mark, but did not take their first lead until the 7:03 point on a pair of Hamilton free throws.  The Dragons then held the lead for all but 27 seconds the remainder of the night.  Firmin gave NSU its brief lead with a runner in the lane with1:30 left to play, but Novak and the Dragons came out of a timeout with another bucket in the paint to regain the lead.
 
The Dragons then converted on all three free throws in the final 33 seconds of play, plus a fast break Novak bucket to avoid an NSU attempt to stop the clock with a foul.
 
Zomer led all scorers with 17 points off the bench for the Wolves.  Firmin added 11 and junior Dustin Tetzlaff notched an even 10.  Pryor put up eight points in a reserve role in his first court action in three weeks since suffering a knee injury.  Firmin also dished out six assists and had one of five NSU steals.
 
Hamilton and reserve guard Charlie Chapman led the Dragons with 16 points apiece to go along with Novak's 15 points and ten rebounds.
 
The Wolves will look to regroup against Minnesota, Crookston tomorrow night in another key NSIC match-up.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. against the Golden Eagles, who fell 76-52 to the University of Mary on Friday night.