Box Score St. Paul, Minn. ----The fourth-ranked Minnesota State men’s basketball saw senior guard Jermain Davis score a season-high 22 points and junior guard Jefferson Mason added 20 as it earned a 93-79 victory over Concordia University in front of 1,119 fans in the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia University.
“This was a fun game tonight,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler. “I can’t say enough about our bench, they stepped in and did a lot of good things for us tonight. Now, we have to get ready for a big game tomorrow night at St. Cloud State.”
Minnesota State used a stifling defense to open the game, forcing Concordia to 0-for-10 shooting from the floor en route to an 11-2 lead. The Mavericks opened a pair of 12 point leads late in the half, their last coming at the 44-32 mark when Mason converted a traditional three-point play.
The Golden Bears outscored MSU 10-4 in the final two and a half minutes of the first half, cutting the Maverick’s lead to 48-42 at the break. Minnesota State hit on 46.9 percent of its field goal opportunities in the opening 20 minutes and. A large part of the Maverick lead came because of their success at the free throw line as MSU connected on 17-of-20 attempts in the first 20 minutes.
Davis led MSU with 15 points in the first half – including a pair of dunks in transition – while Mason added 14.
Concordia opened the second half with three three-point field goals and a traditional three-point play to open its first lead at 54-53 with 15:47 remaining.
After CU pushed a three-point lead on a layup by Sammy Ricks, junior guard Marcus Hill answered with a three-point basket from the top of the key to knot the game at 56.
From that point on, Minnesota State embarked on a 22-8 run to put the game out of reach and never look back.
Davis finished the night with a season-high 22 points, while Mason added 20 points and 12 rebounds. The double-double marked the eighth of the season for Mason and the 11th by a Maverick. It marked the first time this year that MSU has had two players reach the 20-point plateau.
Sophomore post Mitch Grundman added a season-high six points in 15minutes of action.
The Mavericks finished the night connecting on 48.4 percent of its field goal attempts and 82.4 (28-of-34) of its free throws. The Mavericks outrebounded CU, 37-36. MSU forced 17 Concordia turnovers and turned them into 27 points.
Minnesota State (22-1, 15-1) travels to St. Cloud State Saturday evening for 6 p.m., tilt with the Huskies.
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