Men’s basketball drops first two games in NSIC/MIAA crossover
Jenna Peterson
Staff Writer
The Minnesota State Mavericks men’s basketball team started their season in Kansas City, Missouri, for the NSIC/MIAA Crossover.
Their first game was against Washburn Ichabods on Friday which resulted in a Maverick overtime loss.
The first half of the game was where the Mavericks struggled to defend the Ichabods, as Washburn was able to hold the lead through most of the half.
WU led 16-10 at the halfway point of the first half and managed to build a 25-15 lead with only 6:36 left in the half.
MSU came within six points after a jumper from sophomore Tre Baumgardner with 1:44 left in the first half, but Washburn was able to boost its lead to 33-24 at the end of the half.
Senior Cameron Kirksey led all scorers in the first half with 11 points and sophomore Kelby Kramer grabbed 10 rebounds and three blocks. Senior Kevin Krieger also added five points and rebounds.
MSU shot 37% from the field in the first half. The Mavericks also held a 23-20 advantage in rebounds.
Ichabods Drew Maschoff and Jalen Lewis both posted a team-best seven points in the first half. Washburn shot 37.1% from the field in the first half of the game. The Ichabods also scored nine points off 12 MSU turnovers.
The first three minutes of the second half saw the Mavericks push into the Ichabods lead, as Washburn unwillingly took a time out with 16:50 left, leading 38-35. Baskets from Kirksey and Kramer and two threes from Krieger brought the Maverick offense to life.
Washburn remained in the lead through the second half, but Mavericks freshman Ryland Holt’s basket inched the Mavericks closer, trailing 51-48. MSU was able to score enough points to tie the game at 58 after Krieger easily sunk a pair of free throws. After those two points, Krieger became the 41st player at MSU to score 1,000 points.
After regulation the game was tied at 62, resulting in overtime. With less than two minutes left in overtime, Washburn gained a four-point lead at 71-67. Although MSU fought back, Washburn took the game 78-71.
Kirksey finished with a game-high 27 points, Krieger tallied 14 points and eight rebounds and junior Jamal Nixon added 10 rebounds.
Kramer ended with five points, 18 rebounds and eight blocks. His rebounds are the most in a game by a Maverick since Atila Santos recorded 21 against Minnesota Duluth in 2008. Kramer’s eight blocks also tied an MSU single-game record held by Chris Whitfield, who recorded eight versus Nebraska-Kearney in 2006.
MSU shot 35.6% from the field and took a 56-45 advantage in rebounds.
On Saturday, the Mavericks continued their play in the NSIC/MISS Crossover by playing against Missouri Southern State Lions. Halfway through the first half, the Mavericks constructed a 17-10 lead. This lead was mainly done through freshman Corvon Seales and Holt, together hitting three consecutive 3-pointers over the course of three minutes.
Missouri Southern put together a 15-5 run to go up 25-22 with only five minutes left in the half. MSU would end the half on an 18-12 run to take a 40-37 lead at the end of the first half.
Seales led MSU’s offense in the first half with 12 points, while Holt and Krieger each tallied 10 points.
As a team, MSU shot 42.9% from the field in the first half, including a 9-of-17 (.529) performance from behind the arc.
Lions Parker Jennings led all scorers in the first half with 15 points and Cam Martin scored 10. Missouri Southern shot 39.3% from the field and took advantage of their 9-of-10 attempts from the line.
The game was tied at 55 with 9:05 remaining in the second half. Neither team led by more than four points during the first 11 minutes of the second half.
The Lions were able to put together a 12-5 run over the next six minutes to go up 67-60 with 3:42 left of the half. The Mavericks fought back with two points short of the Lions in the final minutes, but the Lions claimed the game 74-69.
Seales led the Maverick offense with 19 points and Holt recorded 15 points and five rebounds. Krieger added 13 points and five rebounds and Kirksey posted 12 points.
As a team, Minnesota State shot 40.6% from the field and 13-of-30 (.433) from 3-point range. The MSU bench accounted for 36 of MSU’s points as well.
Next up, MSU opens its home schedule Saturday against the St. Cloud State Huskies.
Header photo courtesy of Maverick Athletics.