The Northern State men's basketball team improved to 13-2 overall and 7-2 in the NSIC with a 79-78 come-from-behind victory over Minot State Friday night on the road in Minot, N.D. The Wolves improved to 8-2 on the year when trailing at the half.
After a close, back-and-forth first half, the Beavers (9-6, 4-5 NSIC) went on a run and led by 10 points, 36-26 with 1:11 left to play before the break. The Wolves however, ended the half with back-to-back three-pointers from
Mitch White and cut the Minot lead to 36-32 at halftime. The second half followed much of the same script, with the two teams trading the lead before the Beavers went on a 15-5 run and held their biggest lead of the game at 11 points, 64-53 with 8:14 left to play.
Trailing 69-59 with 6:38 left to play, NSU went on a 9-0 run and cut the deficit to just one with a little over 4:30 left. After a
Tydan Storrusten three tied the game at 75-75 with 1:10 left to play, a pair of
Seth Bachand free throws gave the Wolves a 77-75 lead with 43 seconds left to go and they wouldn't relinquish the advantage the rest of the game.
Bachand led the Wolves with 17 points and six rebounds in just 14 minutes of action due to foul trouble. Bachand went 5-of-7 from the floor and 7-for-8 at the free-throw line to go along with a block and two steals. Storrusten added 14 points in the win while
Spencer Pankonin,
DJ Pollard and White all added eight points. White and
Darin Peterka both led the team with three assists on the night.
Northern shot 54 percent (28-for-52) for the game, including shooting 58 percent (14-for-24) in the second half. The Wolves made 7-of-19 from three-point range (37 percent) and hit 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) from the line, all in the second half. The Beavers shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56) from the field and made 11-of-23 (47.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Minot made 15-of-16 from the line in the loss.
The Wolves held a 30-24 edge in points in the paint and had 26 bench points to 21 from the Minot reserves. NSU held a 31-24 advantage in rebounding and had 10 second-chance points while the Beavers scored four on second opportunities.
Northern returns to action tomorrow as it travels to U-Mary for a 6 p.m. contest with the Marauders. NSU defeated Mary 86-79 earlier this season in Aberdeen.
