Box Score MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University has struggled with consistency during its recent losing streak.

The problem reared its head again Friday.

The Beavers were up and down on both ends of the court throughout their game resulting in an 88-80 loss to Minnesota Duluth Friday in front of 1,689 fans at the Minot State Dome.

"I thought we got stagnant on the offensive end. I thought we settled a few too many times for a contested look when we could have worked more for better shots," said MISU head coach Matt Murken. "We had opportunities to finish plays a few times at the rim, but we just didn't finish and they went on a run in the second half."

Minot State (6-9 overall, 2-9 NSIC) opened the game with a solid offensive effort, knocking down multiple 3s to take a nine-point lead seven minutes into the game. MISU's E.J. Williams (Sr., G, Raleigh, N.C.), Dominque McDonald (So., G, Raleigh, N.C.) and Samuel Johnson (Sr., F, Las Vegas, Nev.) hit back-to-back-to-back triples and Williams capped a 21-12 run to start the game with a layup.

But the Bulldogs (7-8, 5-6) used the long ball as well, hitting eight of their 11 3-pointers in the first half. Peter Crawford went 6 for 7 on long range shots to score a game-high 24. UMD cut into the Beavers' nine-point lead nearly right away and by halftime led 43-38.

The game for us, in my opinion, was decided by our ability to guard," Murken said. "We gave up over 50 percent shooting for the game. They moved the ball well and got some good looks but we just didn't get enough stops in the end."

It was similar story early in the second half as UMD built a 16-point lead as MISU couldn't get stops and hit long range shots. Crawford put UMD up by 13 with a 3 at 11:09 and it grew to the largest lead of 16 on free throws by Jordan Reetz at 3:02.

The Beavers tried to battle back, cutting the lead back to single digits on a three-point play by Nathan Mertens (Fr., G, Devils Lake, N.D.), but Minot ran out of time for any comeback
"I like the way we played offensively," said Murken. "I thought we had some good looks but again, we need to finish better at the rim. But overall, offensively we were good enough to win tonight."

Reece Zoelle and Junior Coleman joined Crawford in double figures with 20 and 19 points respectively. Zoelle finished with seven rebounds and an assist in the win.

Williams paced the Beavers with 27 points and added five rebounds and two assists. Thomas Korf (Jr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) scored 12 points and McDonald added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists. Johnson finished with nine points and five rebounds and Chris East (Sr., F, Toronto, Ontario) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and added seven points in the loss.

Minot Stat will look to end its losing streak with a 6 p.m. date with St. Cloud State Saturday at the Dome.