January 19, 2002
Grand Forks, ND – Jeff Brandt and Jerome Beasley each scored 24 points to lead the University of North Dakota to a 78-72 victory over visiting MSU-Mankato in North Central Conference action Saturday night. For the Sioux it was their sixth victory in seven games since losing to Kansas on Dec. 22. North Dakota is now 12-5 for the season and alone in second place at the halfway point of the NCC schedule with a mark of 7-2. MSU-Mankato dropped to 8-9, 4-5 in league play.
MSU-Mankato jumped out to early leads of 5-2 and 11-9, but those would be short-lived. After a Beasley jumper at the 14:42 mark tied the score at 11, Beasley dunked just 15 seconds later to give the Sioux a lead they would keep for nearly the rest of the way. Those two baskets spurred UND to a 14-3 run that would give them a 23-14 lead with 9:08 to play. The lead was eight, 33-25, with 3:05 remaining in the half when the Mavericks had their best run of the opening 20 minutes, going on an 8-0 run to tie the score at 33 with 1:26 to play. A Beasley jumper 48 seconds before the break were the final points scored and UND went to the locker room up 35-33.
Beasley had 12 at the break, hitting 5-of-6 field goals and 2-of-3 from the line. Brandt added seven, while Robert Lolar came off the bench to add six points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
North Dakota hit 15-of-32 (.469) shots in the opening half while the Mavericks hit 12-of-25 (.480).
MSU's Jermaine Brown had 10 points and five boards to lead the Mavericks.
The Mavericks took their only lead of the second half at the 18:59 mark when Jay Larson hit a 3-point shot to put MSU up 37-35. But Beasley answered with a three-point play 13 seconds later to give the Sioux a lead MSU wouldn't get back. Yet it still took a decisive run late in the game and a clutch 3-point shot to give the Sioux the victory.
After trailing by nine, 56-47, MSU went on a 10-1 run to tie the game at 57 with 8:32 remaining. But the Sioux got points from Beasley, Lolar, Mario Porter and Ryan Walker to score the next eight points and take a 65-57 lead with 5:45 to play. MSU's Matt Jones hit a free throw to stop the run, but Brandt connected on a 3-point shot to put the Sioux up 10, 68-58, with 3:56 to play.
That could have been enough, but UND hit just 4-of-11 free throws in the final 1:54 to keep the Mavericks in the game. MSU got within four, 71-67, on two Brown free throws with 1:24 to play and elected not to foul the Sioux. With the shot clock under 10 seconds on the next possession Walker hit a key 3-point shot from the left corner to put the Sioux up seven, 74-67, and close out the Mavericks.
No other UND player finished in double figures outside of Brandt and Beasley. Lolar ended with eight points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Walker added seven points and six boards. Porter had six points, with five assists versus zero turnovers from the point position.
Drew Carlson led Mankato with 28 points, 20 of which came in the second half, hitting 7-of-11 3-point shots. Brown finished with 18 points and 12 boards.
UND was outrebounded 42-40, but committed a season-low seven turnovers. The Sioux shot 43.9 percent for the game, the Mavericks 40.0 percent.
UND will be on the road the next two weekends, playing at Nebraska-Omaha and Northern Colorado next weekend, then traveling to North Dakota State the following weekend.
Official Basketball Box Score
MSU-Mankato vs North Dakota
1/19/02 8 p.m. at Grand Forks, N.D. - Hyslop Sports Center
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VISITORS: MSU-Mankato 8-9, 4-5 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Drew Carlson........ * 9-16 7-11 3-4 1 3 4 4 28 1 2 0 0 31
13 Jay Larson.......... * 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 3 3 4 3 5 4 0 0 25
25 Jermaine Brown...... * 5-14 0-0 8-12 2 10 12 4 18 4 2 0 1 36
51 Jon Hickman......... * 4-10 0-0 0-1 3 6 9 2 8 1 0 0 1 29
53 Shawn Beaudette..... * 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 4 3 1 0 0 0 21
11 Matt Jones.......... 2-5 0-3 1-2 0 1 1 0 5 0 2 0 0 13
21 Jevin Budde......... 0-3 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 1 3 0 0 15
31 Chris Johnson....... 1-2 0-0 3-3 1 5 6 2 5 1 0 0 1 19
55 Scott von Lehe...... 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 0 2 1 1 11
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 24-60 9-21 15-22 10 32 42 24 72 14 15 1 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-25 48.0% 2nd Half: 12-35 34.3% Game: 40.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 8-15 53.3% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-12 66.7% 2nd Half: 7-10 70.0% Game: 68.2% 4
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HOME TEAM: North Dakota 12-5, 7-2 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Mario Porter........ * 1-6 0-1 4-8 1 3 4 0 6 5 0 0 1 35
30 Jeff Brandt......... * 9-19 4-13 2-2 3 3 6 3 24 1 1 0 0 27
32 Ryan Walker......... * 3-5 1-2 0-2 1 5 6 4 7 2 0 0 2 29
42 Josh Johnson........ * 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 1 0 0 0 15
54 Jerome Beasley...... * 10-13 0-0 4-7 1 6 7 1 24 1 2 2 0 36
14 Mike Johnson........ 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 13
20 Jade Jahner......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
24 Robert Lolar........ 2-13 0-5 4-6 0 7 7 3 8 2 2 1 4 23
34 Nigel Jenkins....... 1-2 0-1 1-2 1 0 1 2 3 2 0 0 2 11
40 Jerrid Sebesta...... 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 4 0 0 0 1 5
44 Jared Swanson....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Team................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 29-66 5-25 15-27 11 29 40 17 78 14 7 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-32 46.9% 2nd Half: 14-34 41.2% Game: 43.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 10.0% 2nd Half: 4-15 26.7% Game: 20.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 55.6% 6
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Officials: Mark Gelle, Tim Garrett, Doug Votava
Technical fouls: MSU-Mankato-None. North Dakota-None.
Attendance: 4019
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
MSU-Mankato................... 33 39 - 72
North Dakota.................. 35 43 - 78
North Central Conference game