Box Score Aberdeen, S.D. --- Minnesota State senior guard Marcus Hill became the 33rd member of the 1,000-point club at MSU as he scored a game-high 22 points to pace the tenth-ranked Mavericks to a 91-73 victory over Northern State Friday night in downtown Aberdeen.

Hill finished the night connecting on 7-of-10 opportunities from the floor, including 4-of-6 from downtown to lead the Mavericks.  He now sits with 1,005 career points.

The Mavericks opened the game with a 22-5 spurt with 13 minutes and ten seconds remaining in the first half.  The run was sparked by five different Mavericks reaching the scoring column with senior wing Jefferson Mason contributing six of them.

Northern State whittled the score down to nine at 36-27 with 4:23 remaining before senior guard Joe Drapcho drilled a three to regain the double-digit lead, one MSU would not relinquish.  Junior guard Stephen Kirschbaum added a three-pointer of his own with 13 seconds remaining in the half as MSU opened a 46-30 halftime lead.

Ten Mavericks saw the floor in the first half and nine scored as Hill paced MSU with 11 points.  MSU shot 53.1 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes while hitting on 63.6 percent of its long-range shots.  The Maverick defense limited the Wolves to a 35.3 percent shooting clip in the first half.

"I thought we played with a great pace tonight," said head coach Matt Margenthaler. "Our bench did great tonight and we told them entering the game that they were going to be key.  We need to continue to get better and get ready for a very good U-Mary team tomorrow evening."

The second half played much like the first as the closest the Wolves would get was with 13 points with 6:47 remaining.

Joining Hill in double-digits was Mason who scored 17 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds.  Kirschbaum added 12 points, tying his season and career-high.  

MSU finished the night shooting 54.4 percent from the floor and won the battle of the boards, 34-33.  The Maverick bench outscored NSU's, 28-13.

Minnesota State (13-1, 9-1 NSIC) travel to Bismarck, N.D., tomorrow for an 8 p.m., contest with the University of Mary.

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Senior guard Marcus Hill: