The Northern State men’s basketball team came up short on Thursday night, but not without making things interesting.

The Wolves scored 11 points in a 41-second span to get back into contention in the final minute before falling to unbeaten Minnesota State Moorhead 86-76 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest at Wachs Arena.

Northern jumped out to an early lead, thanks to a pair of baskets by Augustin Reede. From there, it was a close game, with the Wolves leading for much of the first half.

“I think the first half we were moving the ball really well,” said Wolves forward Jacksen Moni. “We were doing what we do, playing off each other. We were getting great looks.”

The Wolves led by as many as six, before the Dragons went on a 15-9 run to close the half, to tie the score at 40-40 at halftime.

“Personally, for our guys at least, I felt like it took us a little too long to get going,” Moorhead coach Tim Bergstraser said. “We were just doing the whole trading baskets game. So, I just kept trying to preach stops to them and kind of have a little more intensity and juice, because we were very flat.”

Northern coach Saul Phillips said his players created opportunities for each other in the first half.

“When we’re good, we do that,” Phillips said. “We did it in the first half well and the offense functioned smoothly.”

Tied at 44 early in the second half, the Dragons (now 7-0) took control. Just three minutes into the half, Moorhead’s Dane Zimmer cashed in a shot clock-beating 3-pointer to give Moorhead a 49-44 lead. From there, the Dragons went on a 15-3 run, giving themselves a comfortable 64-47 advantage.

“We believe we have some good guys that can create for themselves, and if they do that it can create for others as well,” Bergstraser said. “So, we just kept trying to say utilize your teammates and get an open look.”

Phillips said some defensive lapses contributed to the second-half struggle for the Wolves.

“They came out and generated great shots for themselves, and we didn’t follow suit,” Phillips said. “We didn’t do a great job of guarding the ball in the second half and our help side was a little sticky. There were certain things that we wanted to get accomplished on the defensive end and we didn’t do a very good job of that in the second half.”

Moni, who led the team with 24 points and seven rebounds, said the offense began to bog down in the final half.

“I think in the second half we just kind of played selfish,” Moni said. “(We) weren’t looking for each other, weren’t sticking to our principles, and that’s the outcome that happened.”

Northern attempted to rally multiple times, scoring eight consecutive points to trim the lead to 64-55. Moorhead again made a run to extend its lead, before the Wolves eventually cut the lead down to 82-76 late in the game, but could not get any closer.

Moni led all players with 24 points. Josh Dilling followed with 21, Reede finished with 14, and Michael Nhial added 11.

Phillips said there are plenty of things to work on moving forward.

“They’ll be plenty of teaching points. It’s the way it works,” Phillips said. “Certainly, our ability to guard the ball needs to be better on the ball.”

Moni said the Wolves, 3-5 on the year, need to stick to their game plan moving forward when the team hosts St. Cloud State one week from tonight.

“Just sticking with our principles, sticking with our game plan going in,” Moni said. “I think if we just do that and then we play off each other, then we’ll win more games.”

For a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2023-24/msu-moorhead/boxscore/13311