Box Score Mankato, Minn. --- The #7 Minnesota State men’s basketball team managed to recover from a tough first half to force overtime, but Augustana would prevail in the extra session as the Vikings took the 82-79 victory.
With the loss MSU falls to 16-2, with a 12-2 record in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. With the win, Augustana improves to 14-4, with a 10-4 league record.
After a slow first half, the Mavericks came out firing in the second frame as they quickly closed their 10-point deficit to three at 35-32. MSU would stay close to the Vikings and eventually took its first lead on the second half at 53-52 with 10:56 left on the clock.
The lead would change hands five more times in the final 10 minutes before both teams headed into the overtime session tied at 72.
The Mavericks built a quick five point lead at 77-72 to open the overtime period, but the Vikings staged their final comeback as they closed out the period on a 10-2 run to hand MSU an 82-79 loss.
Senior
Jarvis Williams and sophomore
Zach Monaghan paced the MSU offense with 16 points, with Monaghan dishing out nine assists. Junior
Connor O'Brien added 12 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore
Zach Romashko posted 11 points.
Cameron McCaffrey led all scorers with 25 points, while Daniel Jensen posted 13 points and eight rebounds.
The first eight minutes of the first half saw four lead changes as the Vikings led by two at 13-11. Augustana would close out the first half on a 22-14 run to extend its lead to 10 at 35-25.
Monaghan led the Mavericks in the first half with seven points. Williams followed close behind with six points.
As a team, the Mavericks shot just 29.4% (10-of-34) from the field in the opening frame as opposed to the Vikings, who shot 51.9% (14-27) in the opening half. The Augustana bench notched 13 points, compared to the Mavericks bench which dropped in only six points.
The Mavericks begin a two-game road trip Friday as they take on the University of Mary. The opening tip is set for 8 p.m.
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