Box Score MINOT, N.D. – Minnesota State-Moorhead's first possession of the game pretty much summed up the night for Minot State University.

The Dragons' forward Taylor Filipek drilled a 26-footer as time expired on the shot clock.

“That was kind of the story all night for us,” said MISU head coach Matt Murken. “When we had a breakdown, they capitalized.”

MSU-Moorhead hit six first-half 3-pointers and 48.2 percent of its shorts to build a 46-23 halftime lead the Dragons did not relinquish in an 84-53 win over MISU in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Friday at the MSU Dome.

“We had a lot of plays where the mistakes we made were ones we haven't been making,” Murken said. “The missed free throws, we have been making those. The missed layups, we have been converting those. There was a lack of focus or something, but we were pretty poor.”

MISU (1-4 overall, 0-2 NSIC) hit just 38.9 percent from the floor in the game and went 2 of 14 beyond the arc and 9 for 20 on free throws. The Beavers were the second best free throw shooting team heading into the weekend's double header.

Meanwhile, the Dragons (5-1, 1-1) found scoring from multiple players. Filipek and Jordan Riewer had the hot hands early and paced MSU-M with 16 points apiece – knocking down six 3s between them. Five different players scored in double figures for Moorhead.

“In streaks we played hard, got on the floor and got some loose balls to keep plays alive, but we have to have a more sustained effort,” Murken said.

The Beavers never cut the second-half lead lower than 21, getting it to 48-27 on a layup by Josh Johnson (Sr., F, Lufkin, Texas) with 16:25 to play in the second.

That basket was answered promptly by a Riewer 3-pointer starting a 17-4 run capped by a Brady Wohler layup with 9:20 to play.

Along with Riewer and Filipek, the Dragons got double figures scoring from Anthony Tucker (13 points), Alex Novak (12) and Tyler Vaughan (11). Novak added a game-high 12 rebounds as MSU-M outrebounded Minot State 46-35.

Johnson and Anthony Enriquez (Sr., G, Tacoma, Wash.) both scored 12 to pace Minot State. Chris East (Jr., G, Toronto, Ontario) added seven points and seven rebounds, while Dominique McDonald (Fr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) scored seven points, pulled down four rebounds and finished with three steals in the loss.

Minot State will look to rebound on Saturday as the Beavers play host to Northern State beginning at 6 p.m. at the Dome.