Minnesota State overcame a sluggish defensive effort Friday night to erase a 13-point second-half deficit and defeat Minnesota State-Moorhead 90-88, giving coach Matt Margenthaler his 500th career victory.
Minnesota State (12-7, 8-3 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) didn’t put up much resistance as the Dragons (10-7, 5-6) shot 59% (36 of 61) from the field in securing a 67-54 advantage with 14:05 to go on junior forward Logan Kinsey’s three-point play.
However, junior guard Chase Bartlett’s thunderous slam dunk off a turnover triggered a 24-8 burst that produced a 78-75 lead on senior guard Harrison Braudis’ two foul shots with 3:51 to go.
Senior guard Justin Eagins, who fired in seven 3-pointers in scoring a game-high 34 points, drained a pair of triples in the surge while sophomore Caden Kirkman chipped in a trio of inside baskets and a foul shot.
“We didn’t come out with a lot of energy in the second half, and they punched us in the face,” Margenthaler said. “Thankfully, we got back up knowing we had a lot of time left to get back in it. When we were struggling earlier in the season, our seniors really stepped up and they did it again tonight. That’s why were in the position we’re in right now. When we get three straight stops, we call them kills and we got two of those to get us going.”
“We’ve had great players in our program and we’ve had an outstanding coaching staff surrounding me. I’ve settled down a lot on the bench, but I can still get excited if you want me to.”
Moorhead overcame a 19-point effort from Eagins to gain a 44-43 halftime lead before a 13-2 run to begin the second half to open up a 57-45 lead. Kyreese Willingham and Drew Daniel then converted three-point plays before a stretch of better defense and a versatile offense fueled the stretch run.
“We just needed to be resilient and keep attacking them,” said Braudis, who ended up with 19 points and seven rebounds. “We knew they couldn’t guard us on offense so once we started stringing things together defensively we knew we’d be all right. Early on they hurt us with the drive and that’s something we have to pride ourselves on more. We have to be more aggressive on the straight-line drives.
“It’s really cool to see coach get his 500th win because when I came here, I had every intention of being here four years. I love the staff here and it’s great to see the success for not only us as players but for the coaches, too. This is just another notch in the ladder and we just have to stack up the days. … We’ve got a good flow right now so I am looking forward to what is ahead.”
Minnesota State, which hit on 19 of 23 from the foul line compared to the Dragon’ 9 of 16, received 10 points and seven boards from Willingham, while Kirkman added 11 points and six rebounds.
Jamir Price and Carson Johnson paced the Dragons with 18 points apiece while Kinsey totaled 17. Moorhead led the game for nearly 27 minutes in a contest which featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes.
“We were making a lot of bonehead plays to make things comfortable for them,” Eagins said. “We just stayed connected and believed in our game plan. We were too soft defensively on some players and when we got tougher things changed. I’ve put a lot of work and I am confident in my abilities so for us to go where we need to be, I have to be strong and confident. … We’re doing a great job of trusting the other person.”
Minnesota State plays a 3:30 p.m. home game Saturday against St. Cloud State.