MOORHEAD, Minn. - The Northern State men's basketball dropped a heartbreaking 72-71 decision against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for Minnesota State-Moorhead on Sunday.
The Wolves had two chances to win the game late. Moorhead's D.J. Hamilton missed a shot with 14 seconds left and David Lane raced down the court with the basketball, but was unable to convert the basket.
“We had about 10 seconds left and he got by his guy,” Northern State coach Paul Sather said. “A little contact there and he just lost it. He just kind of mishandled it coming off that little contact.”
The Wolves fouled Tarell Clark immediately after the miss with three seconds left. He missed the shot on purpose and the Wolves grabbed the rebound. Lane passed the ball to Tom Parks, but his shot was no good as time expired.
The game was tied six times in the second half. The last tie occurred at 60-all. The Dragons pushed their lead to 70-64 with four minutes left. Parks then hit a three-pointer with under three minutes left to get the Wolves within 70-67. Collin Pryor made two free throws with two minutes left to get the Wolves within 70-69. Dustin Tetzlaff then drew a Hamilton offensive foul with 46 seconds left, but Hamilton's basket counted. Tetzlaff then made two free throws on the other end to make the score 72-71, which set up the game's final sequence.
“You can't shoot yourself in the foot the first 30 minutes and then try to get it back in the last 10 minutes,” Sather said.
NSU led by as much as 19-10 with 14 minutes left in the first half, but trailed 43-37 at halftime.
“We came out flat and with not a lot of energy,” Sather said. “If we could have come out ready to play, we could have stretched something to give us some room.”
All five NSU starters scored in double-figures. Tetzlaff and Pryor both registered double-doubles. Tetzlaff had team-highs in points (16) and rebounds (13). Pryor added 13 points and 11 boards. Derek Hoellein added 15 points, all coming from beyond the arc. Lane added 12 points to go along with seven assists and Parks netted 10 points. However, the Wolves received only five points off the bench.
NSU drops to 6-8 overall and 2-8 in conference action. NSU hosts No. 12 Minnesota State, Mankato at 8 p.m. this Friday in another NSIC contest. It will be the first of three straight home games for the Wolves.
“It will be good to be home,” Sather said.
NORTHERN STATE (6-8, 2-8): Tom Parks 4-9 0-0 10, David Lane 5-8 1-1 12, Derek Hoellein 5-9 0-1 15, Collin Pryor 4-9 5-6 13, Dustin Tetzlaff 6-12 4-6 16, Brett Newton 0-2 0-2 0, Jared Hannigan 1-3 1-2 4, Tydan Storrusten 0-2 1-3 1, Mark Filipovic 0-1 0-0 0, Marty Gregor 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 25-56 12-22 71.
MINNESOTA STATE-MOORHEAD (8-5, 5-4): Charlie Chapman 2-5 2-2 7, Jake Driscoll 6-13 3-4 19, Tarell Clark 5-12 3-6 13, Alex Novak 5-7 0-0 10, Dennis Williamson 1-9 2-3 4, Andrew VanHavermaet 2-4 0-0 5, D.J. Hamilton 4-9 2-3 10, Eric Olson 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 27-61 12-18 72.
Halftime score - Minnesota State-Moorhead 43-37. 3-point field goals - Northern State 9-18 (Parks 2-4, Lane 1-1, Hoellein 5-9, Hannigan 1-3, Storrusten 0-1); Minnesota State-Moorhead 6-13 (Chapman 1-3, Driscoll 4-7, VanHavermaet 1-3). Total fouls - Northern State 18; Minnesota State-Moorhead 20. Fouled out - Northern State, Hoellein; Minnesota State-Moorhead, None. Rebounds - Northern State 36 (Tetzlaff 13); Minnesota State-Moorhead 36 (Novak 9). Assists - Northern State 12 (Lane 7); Minnesota State-Moorhead 8 (Clark 4). Blocks - Northern State 0; Minnesota State-Moorhead 3 (Novak 1, Williamson 1, Olson 1). Steals - Northern State 4 (Lane 1, Hoellein 1, Tetzlaff 1, Hannigan 1); Minnesota State-Moorhead 8 (Clark 3). Turnovers - Northern State 15; Minnesota State-Moorhead 12. Officials - Stacy Jameson, Rob Kueneman, Brian Mauer. A - 207.
