MINOT, N.D. – If you were wondering how important Friday night's game was to Minot State University, you needed only to see how far Beavers' head coach
Matt Murken celebrated off the bench as time expired.
Murken's exuberance stemmed from
Dominique McDonald's (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) floater just outside the lane with 4.6 seconds remaining and subsequent defensive stop to earn a gritty 60-58 win over the University of Sioux Falls in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball at the MSU Dome.
"I maybe messed up. We had a transition there and I called a timeout early," MSU head coach
Matt Murken said of the play before McDonald's game winner. "Dom got to the basket and I think he was going to dish it for a layup and we ended up calling timeout. But we just said, hey, we're going to get the last shot. We went a little early – s ored it with about four and a half seconds left. We got it to go – big win."
The Cougars' Charles Ward tied the game with 23 seconds to play after bouncing the ball off an MSU defender's back and scoring off a heady inbounds play. MSU looked to have a response as McDonald drove and dished to
Winston Williams (Jr., F, Plainfield, Ill.), but Murken called the timeout with 17 seconds to play.
After the huddle, McDonald again drove, this time to the right side and this time there was no giving it up. His floater arced over the outstretched arms of USF's 6-foot-8 center Bryan Kielpinski and in.
The Beavers then held off rush and an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer by USF's Freddie Young, setting off Murken's – and the 1,231 fans' – celebration.
"I thought it was a pretty gritty defensive battle for us," said Murken. "We have to keep our composure better, but we were tough when we needed to be tough. Some guys came off the bench and made some big plays for us."
It didn't look good for the Beavers midway through the second half as MSU's big man
Lamont Prosser (Sr., F, Fort Wayne, Ind.) fouled out and the Cougars took a nine-point lead on the subsequent free throws by Mack Johnson with 12 minutes to play.
But MSU responded.
Thomas Korf (Sr., F, St. Cloud, Minn.) and
Michael Pelo (Jr., G, Charleston, Utah) sandwiched 3-pointers around a
Everett Robinson (Sr., G, Grand Junction, Colo.) layup and Pelo knocked down another triple to give MSU its first lead in the second half, 44-42, with 9:30 to play.
From there, it was a back and forth tussle. The game was a one-possession contest the rest of the way as MSU had the biggest advantage, three points, twice in the final nine minutes.
"I thought we showed a little bit of toughness there," Murken said after Prosser fouled out. "We've been talking since last Friday, let's get gritty and let's get nasty on the D end again. We weren't very good on the offensive end and we lost our composure a little bit, but we held them to them to 58."
USF (3-6 overall, 1-3 NSIC) had good balance as Ward led the Cougars with 18 points and added four rebounds. Mack scored 11 points and pulled down five boards, while Young and Kielpinski scored 10 points apiece in the loss.
The Beavers (6-3, 2-2) got a strong game from Robinson as he led all scorers with 20 point and added eight rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Pelo knocked down five 3-pointers for 15 points, while Korf hit three 3s for nine. McDonald, who struggled a little shooting the ball, finished with five points, four assists and three rebounds.
Minot State is back at the Dome Saturday evening as the Beavers play host to Southwest Minnesota State. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
– GO BEAVERS –
