Dragon Men Use Second Half Surge to Top UMary, 82-71

Moorhead MN, (MSUM Athletics) - A big 17-1 run in the second half helped the Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball team stretch its winning streak to seven with a 82-71 win over UMary in action Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM is now 7-2 overall and 7-0 in the NSIC with the win while UMary fell to 4-9 overall and 4-7 in the league. It was MSUM’s first game since a 103-95 win at Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 23 as the last four contests have been cancelled because of COVID-19 protocols.

McGhee Sets the Pace:

Junior guard Lorenzo McGhee had a big night for MSUM, leading the Dragons in scoring (21) and sharing the team lead with seven rebounds. He was 7-of-13 from the floor.

Further Inside the Numbers:

Junior guard Bryce Irsfeld had 18 points while junior guard Gavin Baumgartner had 12 points and a team-high four assists. Junior guard Siman Sem had seven rebounds off the bench while senior forward Joe Sevlie had eight points off the bench.

MSUM shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) for the game compared to 44.4 percent (24-of-54) for the Marauders. UMary had a 33-31 edge in rebounds but also committed 15 turnovers.

Second Half Run:

A 17-1 run that started five minutes into the second half turned a four-point Marauder lead into a 12-point Dragon advantage. McGhee sparked that surge with seven points while five other Dragons scored two points.

First Half Fight:

The first half was close for the whole 20 minutes and ended with a 38-38 tie. The biggest lead for either team was four points and the largest scoring run for either team was six points. MSUM shot 43.8 percent (14-of-32) while UMary shot 46.7 percent (14-of-30).

Steve d’Eustachio Stat of the Game:

Tonight’s win marked the 14th time in a row that the Dragons have taken a six-game winning streak into a game and won. The last time they fell while on a win-streak of this sort was a 79-70 home setback to the University of Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 3, 2005.

Up Next:

MSUM and UMary rematch on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Nemzek Fieldhouse. It will be the Dragons’ final home game of the 2020-21 season.