> Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. - Isaac Sevlie scored a career-high 26 points on 10 of 13 shooting to lead No. 12 MSU Moorhead to a 79-57 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Saturday night.

MSUM (20-1, 11-1 NSIC) earned its eighth straight victory and maintained its two-game lead in the NSIC North Division standings.

The loss for SMSU (9-9, 5-7 NSIC) was its fifth straight setback and has now lost six of its last seven games since Dec. 20. SMSU ended the night shooting a season-low 36 percent (21 of 59) from the field and also scored a season-low point total.

Joey Bartlett led the Mustangs with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Mitch Weg added 13 points. Cole Martin also reached double figures with 11 points and eight rebounds.

MSUM, which entered the weekend ranked first in Division II in 3-point field goals, connected on 9 of 20 3-pointers and finished the night shooting 48 percent (31 of 64) from the field. The Dragons, which held a 44-32 rebound advantage, shot 59 percent in the second half.

The Dragons used an early 9-2 run to build a 15-8 advantage with 13 minutes, 19 seconds left in the opening half and never trailed again.

A pair of 3-pointers by Turner Moen and Bartlett trimmed the deficit to 17-14 with 11 minutes remaining, but the Dragons rallied with a 12-4 run over the next five minutes to push the margin to 29-18.

SMSU would later trail 31-24 with four minutes left in the half, before MSUM countered with another run to take a 36-27 lead into halftime.

MSUM shot 41 percent in the opening half and held a 23-18 rebound advantage. SMSU shot just 37 percent and committed seven turnovers.

The Dragons would push the lead to 54-36 at the 14:55 mark of the second half, but the Mustangs wouldn't go away and cut the lead to 56-47 following a free throw Travis Meinders with 9:26 left in the game. MSUM had a big answer—scoring 10 unanswered points—keeping SMSU scoreless for nearly five minutes to push the margin to 66-47 with six minutes remaining in the game.

Southwest Minnesota State—which will look to halt its longest losing streak since 2003-04—will hit the road next weekend for a pair of games, facing No. 21 Minnesota State next Friday and Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday.