Nov. 28, 2001
Grand Forks, ND - UND's Jerome Beasley hit one of two free throws with nine seconds remaining and the Sioux survived a missed 3-point attempt at the buzzer by MSU-Moorhead to hand the Dragons their first loss of the season, 72-69, on Wednesday night at Hyslop Sports Center. The 6-10 junior led all scorers with 24 points as he hit eight-of-12 field goals and eight-of-nine free throws. UND improved to 3-1 with the victory. MSUM dropped to 4-1.
UND took a 2-0 lead in the game's opening minute on a Beasley basket and would not trail the rest of the way, a stat which belies the closeness of the game. The Sioux increased their lead to 16-2 in the opening 6:47 on 10 quick points by junior Jeff Brandt, but 14 would be UND's largest lead.
MSUM got the lead back to single figures, 24-16, with 6:41 to play on a layup by Marlon Samuel and cut the lead to one, 27-26, with 1:55 remaining on a basket by Kyle Staloch. But two baskets by Beasley would send UND to the locker room with a 31-28 halftime lead.
The second-half lead hovered between four and 11 points until the Dragons' Jared Bledsoe hit three-of-three free throws with 2:24 to play to cut the Sioux lead to 66-64. Beasley and junior Ryan Walker hit free throws to give UND a 69-64 lead, and two made free throws by Walker with 25 seconds to play appeared to give UND a comfortable 71-66 lead. But a 3-point shot by MSUM's Billy Halter with 16 seconds to play cut the lead to 71-69.
Beasley hit one of two free throws with nine seconds to play to give the Sioux their final margin of victory, as Bledsoe's shot from the left corner at the buzzer was long.
Brandt finished with 13 points, while junior Mario Porter added 10. Beasley and senior Jerrid Sebesta both grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Walker had nine points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds, and was the primary defender that bottled up MSUM's leading scorer. The Dragons' Jared Bledsoe came into the game averaging 21.8 points per game, but was held to just 10 points on three-of-12 shooting.
MSUM was led by Samuel's 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals. Staloch added 14 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals.
MSUM had a slight rebounding advantage (32-31) and shot 50.9 percent to UND's 42.6 percent, but the difference was at the line, where the Sioux hit 17-of-20 attempts (.850), while the Dragons were just five of eight.
UND has an eight-day break as it prepares for the NCC opener at South Dakota State on Friday, Dec. 7.
Official Basketball Box Score
MSU-Moorhead vs North Dakota
11/28/01 7 p.m. at Grand Forks, N.D.
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VISITORS: MSU-Moorhead 4-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Jeff Johnson........ * 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 13
21 Jared Bledsoe....... * 3-12 0-4 4-5 1 3 4 4 10 4 6 0 2 28
22 Kyle Staloch........ * 6-9 2-4 0-0 4 2 6 3 14 8 4 0 2 40
34 Eric Prchal......... * 2-5 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 2 6 2 3 0 0 23
50 Tyler Tjelde........ * 2-5 0-0 0-1 0 3 3 2 4 0 0 0 1 15
20 Ben Aalto........... 5-5 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 0 11 0 1 0 2 21
31 Chris Anderson...... 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 18
32 Billy Halter........ 2-3 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 5 2 3 0 1 20
42 Marlon Samuel....... 8-13 0-0 0-0 2 7 9 2 16 1 1 0 3 22
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 29-57 6-17 5-8 9 23 32 17 69 17 19 0 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-32 40.6% 2nd Half: 16-25 64.0% Game: 50.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 62.5% 0
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HOME TEAM: North Dakota 3-1
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........ * 3-7 1-3 3-3 0 3 3 0 10 2 1 1 0 25
24 Robert Lolar........ * 2-7 1-4 0-0 0 4 4 0 5 1 1 0 3 18
30 Jeff Brandt......... * 5-12 3-9 0-0 1 3 4 1 13 1 3 0 0 30
32 Ryan Walker......... * 2-4 2-3 3-4 2 1 3 3 9 5 1 0 4 28
54 Jerome Beasley...... * 8-12 0-0 8-9 2 4 6 1 24 0 3 0 1 35
14 Mike Johnson........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 12
20 Jade Jahner......... 2-5 2-5 3-4 0 1 1 2 9 0 2 0 0 16
34 Nigel Jenkins....... 1-3 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 2 1 0 1 10
40 Jerrid Sebesta...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 0 1 2 0 0 17
42 Josh Johnson........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4
50 Todd Rypkema........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
Team................
Totals.............. 23-54 9-26 17-20 9 22 31 12 72 15 16 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8% 2nd Half: 10-25 40.0% Game: 42.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-16 31.3% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 34.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 17-20 85.0% Game: 85.0% 2
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Officials: Gary Putz, Mike Carr, Frank Kopetka
Technical fouls: MSU-Moorhead-None. North Dakota-None.
Attendance: 2179
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
MSU-Moorhead.................. 28 41 - 69
North Dakota.................. 31 41 - 72
UND's Jerome Beasley hits one of two free throws with nine seconds remaining.
3-point attempt by MSUM's Jered Bledsoe at the buzzer is off the mark.