#5 MSU Moorhead 89 Wayne State 60

            #5 MSU Moorhead outscored Wayne State 42-22 in the second half to pull away for a 89-60 win over the Wildcats in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament at Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minnesota. The Dragons improve to 30-2 on the season while Wayne State ends the year at 7-22.
            The host Dragons opened the contest with a 12-4 lead in the first four minutes.  WSC went on a 10-2 run and knotted the score at 14 thanks to back-to-back treys from freshman Austin Esters.
            A Patrick Kurth jumper gave WSC an 18-16 lead, but the MSU Moorhead scored the next seven points for a 23-18 lead.  The Wildcats responded with 3-pointers from Trae VandeBerg and Tyler Nagy to take a 24-23 lead with 7:51 remaining in the half.
            It would be the final lead of the night for the Wildcats as the Dragons scored the next seven points for a 30-24 lead.
            Wayne State got as close as four at 42-38 with 1:14 to go in the half on a Austin Esters layup, but MSU Moorhead scored the final five points of the half for a 47-38 lead at intermission.
            WSC stayed within reach of MSU Moorhead in the second half until the midway point when the high-scoring Dragons pulled away.
            The Wildcats trailed 62-48 with 10:28 to play, but MSU Moorhead went on a 17-3 run over the next 4:18 to take a commanding 79-51 lead and the Dragons went on to finish with the 89-60 win.
            Freshman Austin Esters led Wayne State in scoring with 14 points followed by senior center Patrick Kurth with 12 and a team-high eight rebounds.  Sophomore guard Joel Heesch also reached double digits with 11.
            Wayne State shot 24 of 59 from the field for 40.9 percent, going 7 of 23 behind the arc and just 5 of 7 at the foul line.
            MSU Moorhead had six players score in double figures with Isaac Sevlie scoring a team-high 17 points.  Urbane Bingham produced 16 with Jordan Riewer and Aaron Lien scoring 14 each.  Prescott Williams added 11 and Matt Nelson had 10.
            The Dragons shot 52.2 percent from the field on 36 of 69.  MSUM was 5 of 19 from the 3-point line and 12 for 19 at the charity stripe.
            Wayne State out-rebounded MSU Moorhead 40-32 thanks to eight rebounds from Kurth and six by Esters.  Prescott Williams grabbed seven caroms for the Dragons.
            Wayne State had 26 turnovers in the game to just 10 on MSU Moorhead.
            Freshman guard Tyler Nagy led Wayne State in assists with four followed by Kendall Jacks and Jordan Cornelius with three apiece while Joel Heesch finished with five of Wayne State's eight steals.
            The game marked the final contest in a Wildcat uniform for two seniors – Gary Ross and Patrick Kurth.