By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — In a four-minute span, Andy Moeller scored half of the points he'd tallied in the previous four games combined.
And in that first-half stretch, Moeller rescued the struggling Minnesota State men's basketball team, scoring 11 of his game-high 19 points and giving the Mavericks a shot at the North Central Conference championship.
"We went through a tough stretch there in the first half, and we did a good job of weathering it," Minnesota State coach Matt Margenthaler said. "But Andy really came to life, and he knocked down some huge shots. That's why we brought him here, and that's what we need from him to win games."
The Mavericks (21-5, 7-4 in NCC) remained unbeaten at home, defeating North Dakota 73-63 in a conference game Thursday at Bresnan Arena, setting up a championship game against Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday at 4 p.m. Nebraska-Omaha defeated Minnesota-Duluth 84-73 Thursday to clinch a share of the championship.
"We've been preparing for this for the last two weeks," Moeller said. "We've practiced hard, and worked on some things in the halfcourt. If you're not able to get ready to play for the championship, you're playing the wrong sport."
The Mavericks got off to a slow start as North Dakota popped a couple of 3-pointers to lead 8-2, forcing an early timeout. With less than three minutes gone, Minnesota State's leading scorer Jamel Staten was on the bench with two fouls.
But the Mavericks found some long-range success as Gameli Ahelgbe, Luke Anderson and Moeller swished consecutive 3-pointers to gain a 16-11 advantage at the 13:21 mark.
North Dakota put together an 11-point run, taking a 24-17 lead and prompting Margenthaler to put Staten back in with two fouls, a move he had never made in a first half. Staten - playing with an injured ankle for which he received a cortisone shot this week - couldn't find his offense, missing all six shots and getting a couple blocked.
"We talked about it before the game, that if Jamel or Luke or Andy got two quick fouls, we'd look at bringing them back in," Margenthaler said. "Jamel isn't in the best of shape because he really hasn't practiced in two weeks. He was trying to force things, and UND is so long and athletic, you can't score over some of those guys. He just had to let the game come to him."
Moeller - who had just 22 points in the previous four games - took over, with the Mavericks down 28-20. He hit a 3-pointer, then drove hard to the basket, getting fouled and making two free throws. A minute later, the senior point guard again popped a 3-pointer, then another. He found Drew Shepp with a pretty bounce pass, helping Minnesota State to a 34-33 lead at halftime.
"Last year (at South Dakota State), I went through a tough time at the start of the conference," Moeller said. "This is college basketball, it's a long season. You're going to have ups and downs, you just try to keep it as level as you can."
North Dakota scored the first six points of the second half, but center Todd Rypkema picked up his third foul within two minutes. Anderson made two 3-pointers, and the Sioux answered every bucket.
Staten's first basket came on a left-handed drive, then he showed his usual athleticism with a tip-in that put the Mavericks ahead 47-45 with 14:34 remaining.
The Mavericks scored the next six points on Anderson's three-point play and a 3-pointer by Staten, who had scored just nine points in the last two games since injuring his ankle, and kept the lead to the end.
North Dakota drew within 65-61 with 2:49 to play, but the Mavericks finished the game with an 8-2 run, including Moeller's fifth 3-pointer.
"I felt good," Moeller said. "This is NCC basketball, and I've always been on teams that run, run, run. But no matter what, teams in this league are going to find ways to slow you down and make it a halfcourt game. It's a physical league."
Anderson finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, his second career double-double, and Staten scored 16 points, all in the second half. Chris Whitfield grabbed eight rebound, and Tony Thomason had eight points and a season-high seven assists.
Rypkema totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds. Evan Lindahl, who scored 24 points in North Dakota's victory over Minnesota State last month, had just nine on Thursday.
The Mavericks will now prepare for Saturday, when they could earn their first NCC championship since the 1975-76 season. However, a loss could still drop the Mavericks as low as fifth place, forcing a road game in the opening round of the conference tournament.
"Every game is a must-win situation," Margenthaler said. "We did everything we needed to do to win tonight, and I like our situation. We're at home, and we're obviously a better team at home. We just need to take care of business Saturday afternoon."
