Basketball splits final home series of the season

The team fell to Augustana on Friday night, before defeating Wayne State on senior day

Aaron Young
Staff Writer

The Minnesota State Mavericks men’s basketball team split their two-game homestand this weekend, losing to the Augustana Vikings, 97-90, in double overtime Friday night, before bouncing back with a victory over Wayne State, 89-78, Saturday night.

The Mavs are now 17-9 on the year, and 13-7 in conference play. They are neck in neck with Wayne State for first place in the South division.

In the first game, the Mavericks jumped to a 9-0 lead right out of the gate. 

The Mavs held their lead early on behind freshman guard Tre Baumgardner as they were up 20-12 with under 10 minutes to go in the half. 

Minnesota State kept the pedal to the metal, as senior guard Carlos Anderson hit back-to-back threes and outscored Augustana 6-4 going into halftime with a 38-24 lead.

Coming out of the locker room, the Vikings came out with a vengeance, going on a 9-2 run, chopping down the Mavs lead to eight. Both teams exchanged points and possessions down the stretch, with the score at 65-64 before junior guard Kevin Krieger drilled a three late in the game. 

With the score tied at 70, Anderson would capitalize on lockdown defense to put the Mavs up by two with a basket under a minute to go. 

Augustana wouldn’t let up and after drawing a foul on the other end, hit two free throws to tie the game. With one last chance to win the game, the Vikings clamped the Mavs down, forcing overtime.

In overtime, both teams found success from the three-point line, but the Mavericks had the edge when it came to free throws. 

However, Augustana never quit, but failed to take the victory after killing the clock in the last possession, leading to double overtime. 

When double overtime came, the Vikings pulled away after going on a 6-0 run, securing the 97-90 win. 

Anderson, along with junior forward Cameron Kirksey led the Mavericks with 19 points each. 

Krieger recorded another double-double, having 13 points and 10 rebounds. 

In the next game against Wayne State, it was closely contested to begin, with neither team able to pull ahead. The game would slow down but opened way up for the Mavericks to stomp their way to a 42-29 lead at half.

The Mavericks started out the second half with a 12-8 run before Wayne State responded with back-to-back threes of their own. 

However, the Mavs were already up 20 points and closed the game out 89-78 with a big conference win. 

This time through, it was Krieger who led the team with 24 points and seven rebounds. 

Kirksey was equally impressive, as he scored 17 points and had six rebounds along with three blocks. 

The Mavericks hit the road for their last two games of the year, facing Upper Iowa Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and Winona State Saturday at 5:30 p.m. for their final pair of games before heading into the NSIC tournament.

Feature photo by Mansoor Ahmad | MSU Reporter.