Box Score ABERDEEN, S.D. – Minot State University went cold in the second half and Northern State took advantage pulling away for a 73-58 win over the Beavers in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Saturday at Wachs Arena.

The Beavers (8-18 overall, 4-18 NSIC) will finish with the No. 7 seed in the NSIC North Division and will travel to NSIC South Division No. 2 Winona State for a first-round tournament game Wednesday.

Nothing much separated the two teams for nearly 30 minutes of basketball as the two teams battled back and forth. But the Beavers were outscored 24-9 over the final 13 minutes of the game to get to the final margin.

"I felt like for much of the game it was a playoff atmosphere, very physical for both teams and not a lot of give-a-way plays," said MISU head coach Matt Murken. "It had great intensity and it was a great crowd. In a four-minute stretch, we just had too many empty possessions. They had their best stretch of the night on offense during that and that's the anatomy of a run."

Samuel Johnson (Sr., F, Las Vegas, Nev.) as he scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half to help keep the Beavers in the game early. MISU trailed just 37-34 at halftime.

It was a 48-47 lead for the Beavers with 13:52 to play in the game as Minot State hit six of its first 10 shots in the second half. But NSU held Minot State to just three field goals the rest of the way and only nine points.

"We had some good possession and didn't make the shot and that happens. But when you couple that with some poor possessions, we just weren't very good down the stretch," Murken said. "I don't think there have been many times this year where we were outcompeted, but sometimes we can play a little smarter and execute better. We have to grow and be more comfortable finishing those type of plays and that could be at the end and that can be a four-minute stretch in the second half."

Northern State (18-10, 13-9) was led in scoring by Darin Peterka's 15 points off the bench. Seth Bachand and Tydan Storrusten each added 12 points, while Peterka paced the Wolves with six rebounds. All 11 NSU players that got in the game scored and the Wolves had five score six or more.

Dominique McDonald (So., G, Raleigh, N.C.) led the Beavers with 18 points and added five rebounds and two assists. Johnson finished with seven rebounds and two assists to go along with his 13 points and Chris East (Sr., F, Toronto, Ontario) finished with 10 points and six rebounds for Minot State.

MISU will take on Winona State at 7 p.m. in Winona with the winner advancing to Sioux Falls for the final eight.