by Dax Larson
Issue date: 11/28/06
Section: Mens Sports
It's not too often a basketball games' last points are scored with 2:30 minutes to play. But it happened Saturday when the No. 19-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team (4-1) won a tight game with Northern Michigan 88-86.
Friday and Saturday, the Mavericks competed in the American Family Insurance Classic, hosted by the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Senior Luke Anderson hit what ended up to be the game winner with 2:28 left in the game. MSU played good defense in the final 2:28, but gave Northern Michigan the last shot with 18 seconds left.
"Everyone in the stadium knew it was going to (Ricky) Volcy," said MSU head coach Matt Margenthaler. "(Atila) Santos did a great job at contesting the shot."
Anderson put his point total to 19 with the three and senior Tony Thomason received an assist on the play for his fifth of the night. In the final 2:28 MSU did what they needed to do on defense to stop NMU from scoring. Key defensive plays by sophomore Mitch Gosson and seniors Thomason and Paris Kyles kept the ball out of the hands of NMU, who had three shots at tying the game.
"[In those last two minutes] the defense really stepped up," Thomason said. "When everybody steps up like that, we can stop any team out there."
MSU took an eight-point advantage into the half and continued to keep a lead through most of the second half. The Wildcats reached their biggest lead, three, at the 8:26 mark of the game and the two teams traded baskets all the way up to the final score by Anderson. Four starters reach double figures in points with Anderson and Thomason reaching 19 points. Thomason went 5-for-8 from behind the arch and had four steals. NMU's Volcy finished with a game-high 31 points, going 11-for-21, but missed the final shot for NMU.
"Without a doubt he is one of the best players in Division II," Margenthaler said. "It was a heck of an offensive game."
Friday, MSU went head-to-head with Michigan Tech and came out on top with a 67-48 victory. The Mavericks only shot 30.8 percent from the field in the first half, but managed a 28-24 lead going into the break. MSU found its stroke in the second half and got out to a 10-point lead just 4:30 minutes in. The Mavericks never let down and kept a demanding double-digit lead the rest of the game. Anderson led MSU with 15 points. Junior Atila Santos contributed 12 points and nine rebounds. The Mavericks created 17 turnovers while only giving up 11.
"We came out sluggish and slow in the first half and they hung with us," Thomason said. "Coach [Margenthaler] got on us at halftime and we came out the second half and played our type of ball."
Wednesday, the Mavericks were handed their first loss of the season at the hands of Concordia-St. Paul with a final score of 71-65. An 18-point, 10-rebound night from Santos wasn't enough for MSU to overcome the Golden Bears as former Mavericks Drew Shepp and Kyle Marxhausen led CSP to victory. Shepp scored a team-leading 15 points and Marxhausen scored 14.
"If we are not ready to play any team can beat us," Margenthaler said. "Some people say a loss builds character, but we have enough character. We need to win games."
Dax Larson is a Reporter staff writer
