Mary bounces Beavers
No. 3-seeded Beavers upset in first round of DAC-10 playoffs
By: Mike Manston (Minot Daily News)

The reality of playoff basketball dropped with a resounding thud on one of the most exciting seasons of Minot State University men's basketball in quite some time.

The No. 6-seeded University of Mary Marauders avenged two regular-season losses to the Beavers with an 87-82 upset of No. 3-seeded MSU in the opening round of the DAC-10 playoffs Wednesday at the MSU Dome.

The Marauders overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half with a methodical comeback that caught MSU by surprise. That stretch was culminated when Wayne Richards threw down a dunk with 37 seconds remaining after taking a lead pass from Matt Barton to put the Marauders up 83-78.

The Beavers, who cashed in on two free throws to start the game because of a warm-up dunking violation by the Marauders, spurted ahead 15-6 in the opening 4:14 when Jeff Brandt buried a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner.

Mary's Alex Aldinger hit a floater in the lane to knot the score at 20-20 with 8:27 remaining in the opening half and the teams battled to a 41-41 deadlock at the intermission.

MSU built a 62-49 lead on a jump hook by Khalid Loda that led to a three-point play before the Marauders started their comeback. Anish Sharda drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to 62-52. The Beavers led by eight, 72-64, when Brandt knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:46 remaining. Chuck Archambault netted a quick five points on back-to-back possessions and Richards closed the game with nine points in the final 2:15.

"They absolutely killed us around the basket," said MSU coach Mike Hultz. "I thought we did a decent job on Sharda and Archambault, but those other guys stepped up. They did a great job on the posts by bumping us on the block and doubled down on the catch. They forced us to become a jump-shooting team and to compound things they made their free throws and we didn't."

While Brandt poured in a noticeable 27 to lead all scorers, it was the five Marauders who quietly tallied in double digits to lead the charge. Barton netted 16, Richards finished with 13, Archambault tossed in 11 and Sharda and Jamaal Smith each had 10. Lloyd Flanders finished with 18 and Qasim Ward had 10 for the Beavers.

After nearly identical numbers in the first half, the Marauders took the edge in field-goal shooting by converting 30 of 55 tries for 55 percent and were 21-of-22 from the foul line for 96 percent. MSU finished 29-for-63 from the field for 46 percent and 15-of-24 from the free-throw line for 63 percent. The Marauders held a 31-26 rebounding edge and committed 14 turnovers to the Beavers' 11 miscues.

MSU senior Kent Bloms, who has had some of the biggest games of his career against the Marauders, was held in check with five points and four rebounds.

Bloms credited the Marauders and was unable to point to a single factor in the MSU loss. "They brought their 'A' game and we didn't," Bloms said. "We didn't make any plays when we needed them. They did a great job on our posts and we just couldn't figure it out even though we knew it was coming. We played a little tentative and were back on our heels."

The Beavers finished the season 19-10 while the Marauders, 16-13, will advance to the DAC-10 semifinals Saturday at Dickinson State, which was a 75-73 winner over Black Hills State.

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