MNSU men’s basketball wins two in Seattle

The Minnesota State men’s basketball team won two-straight games over the weekend on the road. MNSU hit the road for the second weekend in a row to take on the Seattle Pacific Falcons and the Central Washington Wildcats on Friday and Saturday in Seattle, Washington. With the victories, the Mavericks move to 3-1 on the season, with their only loss coming via a double-overtime loss on November 12.

On Friday, they opened the weekend against Seattle Pacific. Junior guard Charlie Brown had 11 first-half points in what was a mostly a back-and-forth half, but the Mavericks still went into halftime down by five points.

Starting the second half, Seattle Pacific maintained their lead for the first seven minutes of action before senior forward Jon Fuqua drained a jumper to put the Mavericks up by two. That would give them their first lead in nearly 13 minutes of play. Minnesota State did not let go of the lead for the rest of the game.

They would walk away with a nine-point victory, defeating Seattle Pacific 78-69. Five Mavericks were able to score in the double-digits, with Brown leading the team with 22 points, sophomore guard Cole Harper had 15 points and eight rebounds, senior forward AJ Patty had 11 points and five rebounds, Fuqua had 14 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore guard Joey Witthus had 10 points.

The following night, the Mavericks took on Central Washington. The Mavericks maintained a lead throughout the majority of the first half, as they only trailed by two points at one point. Mavericks’ senior guard Austin Aarias led the team in first-half scoring with 10 points, while Witthus recorded nine points and six rebounds.

With the game being tied at 41 at halftime, the Wildcats etched the first lead of the second half. They built their strongest lead of the game up to four points, but they failed to hold it. Just under eight minutes into the second half, Aarias hit a layup and the Mavericks would not give up another lead and eventually build up a double-digit lead and win 104-93.

The Mavericks had a great offensive performance, with three players reaching 20-plus points. Once again, Brown led the squad in scoring with 24 points and supplied six rebounds. Witthus notched himself a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds, Patty was a rebound shy of a double-double supplying 15 points and nine rebounds, and Aarias finished with 22 points.

Minnesota State will continue their road play this upcoming weekend. The Mavericks will open up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play, as they will take on St. Cloud State on Saturday at 4 p.m., in St. Cloud. The Mavericks will play their fifth away game in as many games. They will not have a home game until December 9, when they face the Winona State Warriors. The Huskies this season are 2-4, but they have won their last two meetings after starting the season.