MINOT, N.D. – Minot State University built multiple double-digit leads and held off a couple runs by Minnesota Crookston winning 84-72 Saturday in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball at the Minot State Dome.

The win moved the Beavers (10-10 overall, 6-8 NSIC) into a tie for fourth place in the NSIC North with eight games remaining in the regular season and earned MSU its first weekend conference sweep of the year. Minot State earned its ninth straight win over UMC (2-12, 6-14) in the series between the two schools.

"I thought we played a solid overall game," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "I didn't think we were overly great in the first half, but held them to no 3-pointers and they only scored nine there all night. They had 30 (Friday) and nine tonight, so that was a big key to our defensive effort."

Minot State nearly led wire-to-wire, trailing 2-0 in the opening minute of the game. MSU led 39-28 at half, holding UMC to just 11 first-half field goals and no 3-pointers. The Beavers stifled UMC's long-range shooting, allowing just 3 of 12 shooting from beyond the arc and gave up just seven 3s on the weekend.

"We talked about what their recipe would be for a comeback at halftime, what we would do and its attack hard, get to the line and hit our shooters. (After an early run), I thought for the most part we did a good job of limiting that," Murken said.

Still, MSU couldn't fully shake the Golden Eagles. MSU pushed the lead to 16 on a 3-pointer by Tyler Rudolph with 3:24 to play for the biggest lead of the game. UMC stayed in the contest with solid free throw shooting, knocking down 23 of 28 overall and held a 23-13 advantage from the line.

Rudolph had a huge night for Minot State. He finished with a career-high 33 points and added 17 rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. He moved past former MSU great and NCAA Hall of Fame coach Dale Brown for 12th all-time in career scoring with 1,162 points.

"He worked on handling the ball a lot in the offseason. We've seen it in practice and he has done some of that in games, but he did it a lot tonight. He really attacked off the bounce and moved around well," Murken said of Rudolph. "If he's just getting it in the blocks, that's easy to guard, but he attacked well."

It wasn't just the Rudolph show as multiple Beavers made big contributions. Nathaniel Moore scored 14 points off the bench, Russ Davis hit three 3-pointers for 11 points and Trevor Rothstein knocked down all three of his 3-pointer attempts for nine points. Rothstein has hit six straight 3-pointers over his last three games.

"Ricci controlled the game from the top," Murken said. "Nate (Moore) hit a few in arrow and spaced the floor really well. Some of the things he did, people won't notice and he's getting better at that, things like spacing. We did a good job of that overall. Trevor did as well, he spaced the floor really well and set himself up. He had nine points in 17 minutes and has given us some great minutes lately."

UMC's Harrison Cleary finished with 23 points but took 17 shots to get there and was hounded by MSU's Nathan Mertens all night. Chase Johnson finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for UMC off the bench.

Luis Ricci Maia tied a career high with nine assists and added eight points and four rebounds for a solid all-around game for the Beavers in the win. Mertens finished with seven points and three assists to go along with his solid defensive night.

The Beavers return to the road for a key NSIC South Division matchup with Winona State and Upper Iowa in their second-to-last road trip of the season.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.