WINONA, Minn. – Minot State University forced overtime with a layup by Nathan Mertens with four seconds to play in regulation.

But the Beavers went cold in the extra session.

Winona State outscored Minot State 13-11 in overtime to stop the Beavers three-game winning streak with an 84-82 win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball Friday at McCown Gymnasium.

"I thought we really competed," said MSU head coach Matt Murken. "It was an exciting college basketball game. We had our chances in both regulation and in overtime and we had too many empty possessions."

The Beavers (10-11 overall, 6-9 NSIC) trailed much of the second half, but forced OT with a series of big plays. First, Tyler Rudolph knocked down a transition 3-pointer to cut the WSU lead to a point with 24 seconds to play. After Riley Bambenek went 1 for 2 from the line with 11 second to play, Mertens took a pass on the wing and raced in for the tying layup with four seconds.

The Warriors (9-10, 6-9) got a great look at the basket as time expired, but Rudolph blocked Isaiah Gray's layup attempt out of bounds.

Minot State took a 72-71 lead on a Rudolph free throw and later tied the game at 74 on a pair of free throws by Luis Ricci Maia with 2:43 to play in overtime, but struggled to get a key bucket after that until late in the extra session.

Winona State staved off an overtime comeback with an abundance of free throws. The Warriors shot 9 for 15 in the OT and outscored Minot State 20-10 overall, taking 13 more free throws than the Beavers.

After an early 12-point WSU lead, the game settled into a back-and-forth affair with 14 lead changes and eight ties. Both teams shot the ball well as WSU hit 51.9 percent compared to 47.7 for MSU. The Beavers took 11 more shots and hit three more field goals and had a 30-24 advantage on 3s.

Kyle Bauman led Winona State with 17 points, hitting 3 of 4 3-pointers. He hit all three in the first 10 minutes after coming into the game with just six 3s total. Tommy Gathje scored 16 points and added a team-high eight rebounds, while Bambenek finished with 14 points and four rebounds for WSU.

Rudolph finished with another double-double scoring a game-high 22 points and adding 13 rebounds. He helped MSU to a commanding 39-28 advantage on the boards. Nathaniel Moore pitched in with 17 points including a 3 just before the overtime buzzer to make things even more interesting and Maia added 15 points and six assists. Mertens finished with 13 points and seven assists for the Beavers.

Minot State will look to regroup on Saturday on the road at Upper Iowa. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

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.