Article

Men's Hoops Still in Hunt For Conference Title

Maverick win coupled with South Dakota loss to Minnesota-Duluth gives MSU a shot at back-to-back NCC Championships.

by Dax Larson

Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: Mens Sports

No. 12 Minnesota State made it one step closer to a shot at the conference championship with a 68-64 win over Augustana Thursday. MSU needed yet another 13-point second half comeback to gain the victory in its final conference road game of the regular season.

The comeback showed the character of the team, who came together when they needed each other the most.

"There was a point when we were down 13 where we could've fell apart or come together. We came together and finished the game off," said senior Tony Thomason.

"There were points in the game where I thought they could have started pointing fingers, but our team did a great job staying together and working through it," said Maverick head coach Matt Margenthaler. "It was a great team win."

The Mavericks (23-3 overall, 9-2 NCC) have needed to make double-digit comebacks multiple times this season, but it has forced the team to trust each other. Margenthaler took a timeout just two minutes into the second half after Augustana (16-10 overall, 3-8 NCC) went on an 8-0 run to get up by 13. After the timeout, senior Luke Anderson hit a three that started the comeback.

"Luke started the whole deal for us by knocking down some shots and really got things going," Margenthaler said. "Once he made a few jumpers it really took the lid off the basket for us."

Anderson scored nine points in six minutes to help cut the Mavericks' deficit from 13 to one. The Mavericks and Vikings traded leads after the Mavericks caught up. The second half alone saw five ties and seven lead changes. With five minutes to go the Mavericks did what they needed to do: play defense and made free throws. Senior Paris Kyles continued what Anderson started by scoring seven of the Mavericks' 11 points in the final five minutes of the game, five of which were from the charity stripe. The other four points the Mavericks scored were also at the line with Thomason contributing three and Morrow with one.

"With five minutes left the effort was there and we shut them down," Thomason said.

MSU put 24 points on the board in the first half, its lowest output of the season. The Mavericks were getting good looks and second opportunities, but they just weren't falling.

"We had a lot of opportunities in the first half that just didn't go," Margenthaler said. "We had open looks and took the ball the basket. We missed a lot of easy shots."

Kyles led the team in scoring with 18, including 6-8 from the line. Anderson ended with 15 points and five assists. Thomason reached the 1,000-point mark for his career with 10 points in the game.

The Mavericks finish the regular season Saturday at the Taylor Center against Nebraska-Omaha. The game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. A win will at least give the Mavericks a share of the regular season conference title with South Dakota.

Dax Larson is a Reporter staff writer