SIOUX FALLS, S.D. --- The Minnesota State men's basketball team found itself in its fifth overtime game this season, but it was the University of Mary that would come out on top 96-91 in the second round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.

With the loss, the Mavericks fall to 21-9 on the season, while the Marauders improve to 19-11.

The first half proved to be a high scoring affair as the Marauders carried a 54-48 lead into halftime. U-Mary held the half's largest lead of eight points on three occasions, but MSU was able to knot up the score at 42 with 6:41 to go in the half.

Freshman Joey Witthus put the Mavericks up 45-44 after he sank his fourth three pointer of the half, but the Marauders were able to finish the half on a 9-3 run to take a six-point lead into the locker room.

Both teams excelled from beyond the arc in the first half as they combined for a 15-of-23 showing from three point land. MSU connected on 9-of-14 (.643) shots from behind the arc, while the Marauders finished the half shooting 66.7% (6-of-9) from behind the arc.

Witthus led the Mavericks in the first half with 12 points, all of which came via three pointers. Junior Jon Fuqua and senior Jalen Pendleton added 10 points each as well, with Pendleton also passing out a team-leading five assists.  

As a team, MSU shot 54.5% from the field in the first half as it hauled in 14 rebounds and passed out 13 assists.

Marquealis Edwards led the U-Mary offense in the first half with 12 points and five rebounds. Brandon Tyler added nine points as well from a 3-of-4 showing from long range.

As a team, U-Mary shot 64.5% from the field in the first half, to go with an 8-of-10 showing from the charity stripe.  

The second half saw seven lead changes through the final 20 minutes of regulation, as neither team lead by more than two points during the final 6:20 of the second half. Bryan Jefferson put the Marauders up one at after an old fashioned three point play at 81-80 with 2:57 left, only to see Pendleton knot up the score at 81 with a free throw with 1:12 to go in regulation.

After a defensive stop the Mavericks once again reclaimed the lead at 83-81 as Pendleton got the layup with 20 seconds to go, but with five seconds left Edwards hit a layup of his own to force overtime.

The overtime period saw the Marauders take the lead at 87-85 after a jump shot from Bryan Jefferson with 3:58 to go. U-Mary would not give up the lead the rest of the way as it held the Mavericks to just eight points in the overtime period as U-Mary went on to claim the  96-91 win.

Pendleton finished his day with his third double-double of the season as he notched 24 points and 11 assists. Fuqua added 22 points and eight rebounds of his own, while Witthus notched 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Alex Herink tallied 10 points as well.

As a team, MSU shot 32-of-70 (.457) from the field, including an 11-of-27 (.407) showing from behind the arc. The Mavericks also hauled in 41 rebounds and passed out 21 assists.

U-Mary finished the game shooting 50% from the field, to go along with a 16-of-21 (.762) performance form the line. The Marauders also scored 16 points off of 10 MSU turnovers.

Six Marauders recorded at least 10 points in the game, including Jefferson, who led the Marauders with 22 points and nine rebounds. Edwards tallied 21 points and eight rebounds of his own as well.

Minnesota State will learn in NCAA Tournament fate at the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, March 5. The selection show is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m., and will be streamed on NCAA.com

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