Men’s hoops continues streak

What a start it’s been for the Minnesota State men’s basketball team, jumping out to a 6-0 record following their weekend wins against Bethany Lutheran and Waldorf.

Minnesota State made a statement against the Mankato rival in Bethany Lutheran College, taking the 97-66 win over the Vikings.

Minnesota State started out with a commanding 12-0 lead, with points from Devontae Thedford, Quincy Anderson, Kelby Kramer, and Kyreese Willingham, the freshman brother of MSU’s Malik Willingham.

By the end of the half, the Mavericks were in the lead 52-23, with their smallest lead at just a 10 point difference.

Although the second half was a lot closer in scoring, and the Vikings managed to outscore the Mavericks, Minnesota State went on to take the victory 97-66.

Thedford led the Mavericks in scoring with 18 points, while going 7 of 12 from the field, and 4 of 4 in free throws.

Freshman Harrison Braudis scored his career high 15 points in the contest, while hitting 7 of 11 from the field. Braudis also played 24 minutes, the second most on the team.

Anderson came out for 11 points on the day while going perfect on six free throw shots and grabbing eight total rebounds.

The Mavericks shot 53.5% from the field, with a whopping 47 points coming off the bench.

Minnesota State’s defense came up huge in this contest, holding Bethany Lutheran to hitting just 1 of 20 from three-point range.

MSU continued this trend in their Saturday contest, taking down Waldorf 103-73.

Despite the total domination for the Mavericks, it came with a bit of trouble to start out. Minnesota State didn’t grab their first lead until 11:05 remaining in the first half off of Kyreese Willingham’s jumper in the paint, which made the game 17-15. 

That was the shot  that sparked a 35-11 run for the Mavericks in the last 11 minutes of the first half, giving them the 50-26 lead going into the second 20 minutes.

The second half was a bit more even, although the Mavericks still outscored the Warriors 53-47, and pushed the Mavericks to an undefeated 6-0 record.

Anderson led the effort for the Mavericks with 18 points and 22 minutes played, and went 7 of 13 from the field. 

Brady Williams matched his season high in the contest with 17 points, and hit all four free throws.

Through six games, Anderson is currently leading the Mavericks with 99 points (16.5 points per game), also good for 15th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. 

Thedford sits right behind Anderson on the Mavericks with 84 points of his own (14 points per game), and good for 24th in the NSIC.

As a team, Minnesota State is third in the conference with 89 points per game.

With one conference win under their belts against Concordia-St. Paul, the Mavericks sit in first in the NSIC South division.