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DJ Pollard hit a game-winning three pointer with 1.9 seconds left to play to help lift the Northern State men's basketball team to a thrilling upset victory over 18^th-ranked Minnesota State Friday night inside Wachs Arena. Pollard finished the game with a career-high 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting and went 5-for-7 from three-point range. He also finished the game with four rebounds, three steals and a block.

Trailing 72-70 with 18 seconds left to play after a Mike Busack three-pointer put the Mavericks (16-4, 11-3 NSIC) up, Northern (18-3, 12-3 NSIC) got a clean look for Pollard from beyond the arc with nine seconds left to play that he missed. Skye Warwick chased down the long miss and immediately found Pollard on the wing for the game-winner. Minnesota State almost fought all the way back to spoil NSU's upset bid as the Mavs fought back from a five-point deficit, 68-63 with 2:23 left to play in the contest. Three free throws from Zach Monaghan cut the Northern lead to just one with 1:27 left and after a pair of Pollard free throws, Assem Marei had a chance to tie the game at 70 with a three-point play, but missed the freebie.

After a first half that saw the Mavericks lead for most of the way, the Wolves fought back from an eight-point deficit with 12 minutes left in the first and took a 31-30 lead with 3:32 to go in the first half. The Mavs controlled the rest of the half and took a 39-34 lead into the break. The second half was much of the same, with MSU staying in the lead. However, the last half of the second, Northern took control and led most of the final nine minutes of the game.

Seth Bachand added 14 points and five rebounds in the win while Darin Peterka added 13. Tydan Storrusten chipped in with six and also dished-out a game-high seven assists. Monaghan, who came into the weekend as the leading assist man in the nation with 8.7 per, was limited to five assists and scored just seven points while going 1-for-12 from the floor. Marei scored 12 for the Mavericks. He was averaging 19.6 points per game on the season.

Northern shot 48 percent (24-for-50) from the floor in the win and went 8-of-16 from three-point range while MSU was held to 42.2 percent (19-for-45) shooting and went 6-of-20 (30 percent) from beyond the arc. MSU had averaged 82 points per game and nearly 50 percent shooting from the floor entering the night. The Mavericks were also held to just nine assists in the game, they entered the contest averaging 17 helpers per game.

The Wolves held a 30-22 edge in points in the paint and also had a 32-31 lead in rebounding. NSU scored 10 fast break points to Minnesota State's none and also scored 17 points off of turnovers while the Mavs had 11. The free-throw line is what kept things close in the contest as MSU went 28-for-33 (84.8 percent) at the stripe while Northern was just 17-of-29 (58.6 percent).

Northern returns to action tomorrow as Concordia-St. Paul comes to town for a 7 p.m. contest.