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Anderson Shoots Mavs to Victory

Junior sets record; hits 7 of 7 3-pointers

By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — Luke Anderson has always been a good shooter, but with a good strength program and more confidence from his teammates, the Minnesota State junior is stroking it better than ever.

"I just feel more comfortable and relaxed out there," said Anderson, who scored a season-high 27 points in a 92-66 nonconference men's basketball victory over Dakota Wesleyan at Bresnan Arena on Tuesday.

"(Point guard) Andy Moeller takes a lot of pressure off of me, and teams have to concentrate on him and Jamel (Staten), too. We have four shooters out there most of the time."

Anderson made 10 of 11 field goals, tying a school record by making seven 3-pointers without a miss. The 27 points is one short of his career high, and he's now shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 63.7 percent on 3-pointers.

"Andy is giving him the looks that he wants, and he just has to stand there and shoot," coach Matt Margenthaler said. "He's stronger, and he's taking better shots. He's worked hard in the weight room all year."

Dakota Wesleyan went ahead 9-0 in the first two minutes and led for most of the first half, working the shot clock under five seconds and making 6 of 10 3-point shots.

The Mavericks' first lead came at 20-19 when Joe Williams made a steal and layup with 9:09 remaining in the half. The next lead came four minutes later when Williams assisted on Gameli Ahelegbe's 3-pointer, part of a 13-0 run that put the Mavericks ahead for good.

"It was hard coming off a big weekend," Margenthaler said. "The kids are looking forward to playing more Division II competition."

Minnesota State started the second half with a 14-5 run to end any suspense. The Mavericks made three straight 3-pointers in the surge, two by Anderson and another by Staten.

The Mavericks scored 53 points in the second half, their seventh 50-point half in the first six games, and shot 61.8 percent. The Mavericks are averaging 101 points, in part because of averaging 22.6 assists, more than six per game over last season.

"We have really good chemistry," Anderson said. "It's a lot of fun out there."

Jamel Staten, who has been the North Central Conference's player of the week twice already, added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Moeller added 11 points and eight rebounds. Rueben Trotter scored 10 points off the bench

Jacqson Collins led Dakota Wesleyan with 15 points. The Tigers made 8 of 16 3-pointers.

The Mavericks (6-0) play a home-and-home series with Winona State, starting with Friday's game at Winona and ending with a home game Saturday at 7 p.m.

"It's going to be fun, the next couple of weeks," Anderson said. "We're playing a lot of good teams. It's nice that we can concentrate on Winona this week."

DAKOTA WESLEYAN 66

Vogel 2-4 3-5 7
Block 3-6 1-2 8
Collins 6-13 0-1 15
Haynes 1-6 0-0 3
Deibert 3-9 2-2 9
Owens 4-7 3-4 13
Graves 0-2 0-0 0
Johnson 2-4 2-2 6
Maynard 1-1 0-0 2
Cummings 1-4 1-1 4
Neuheisel 0-0 0-0 0
Niewehuis 0-0 0-2 0
Totals: 23-56 12-19 66

MINNESOTA STATE 92

Staten 6-10 2-5 16
Anderson 10-11 0-0 27
Whitfield 0-0 0-0 0
Moeller 5-9 0-0 11
Williams 3-6 1-2 7
Thomason 0-3 0-0 0
Babcock 0-1 0-0 0
Ahelegbe 4-9 0-0 9
Swetalla 0-1 0-0 0
Van Cleave 2-5 2-4 6
Trotter 5-6 0-0 10
Shepp 2-2 0-0 4
McConkey 0-0 0-0 0
Totals: 38-64 5-11 92

Halftime

Minnesota State 39
Dakota Wesleyan 33

3-point shooting

Dakota Wesleyan 8-16

Block 1-1
Collins 3-4
Haynes 1-2
Deibert 1-4
Owens 2-4
Graves 0-1

Minnesota State 11-22

Staten 2-3
Anderson 7-7
Moeller 1-4
Williams 0-1
Thomason 0-2
Babcock 0-1
Ahelegbe 1-2
Van Cleave 0-2

Rebounds

Dakota Wesleyan 24 (Block 6)
Minnesota State 43 (Moeller 8)

Assists

Dakota Wesleyan 14 (Haynes 4)
Minnesota State 26 (Staten 6)

Steals

Dakota Wesleyan 7 (Collins, Deibert 2)
Minnesota State 8 (Williams, Van Cleave 2)

Turnovers

Dakota Wesleyan 12
Minnesota State 11

Total fouls

Dakota Wesleyan 10
Minnesota State 14
Fouled out: none