MOORHEAD — Minnesota State Moorhead head coach Tim Bergstraser liked the approach for Jaden Stanley-Williams on Saturday at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.
Stanley-Williams had an efficient offensive approach that led to a career-high 22 points. That performance help lift the No. 17-ranked Dragons to an 83-68 victory against St. Cloud State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball.
“When he’s thinking score, and keeping it simple, it’s really, really good for our team," Bergstraser said.
The Dragons (19-5, 14-4 NSIC) bounced back from an 18-point home loss against Minnesota Duluth on Friday night to remain in second place in the North Division and overall NSIC standings. Northern State (19-5, 15-3) remained a game ahead of MSUM.
“Especially when you’ve got a back-to-back homestand and you’ve got wonderful fans like this, you never want to come out and lay an egg like we did (Friday) night," Stanley-Williams said. “The way we were able to bounce back was a testament to the mental maturity of this team and the mental toughness that we have.”
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Stanley-Williams shot 57% (8 of 14) from the floor and 75 % (3 of 4) from 3-point range to go along with a game-high seven rebounds. The 6-foot-7 senior also added two steals.
“He was playing aggressive, he’s usually an aggressive player, but he was picking his spots," Bergstraser said. “Him getting a bunch of rebounds for us, that was the biggest thing, on top of him getting 22 points.”
The Dragons scored the first six points of the second half to start to separate from the Huskies. Senior guard Lorenzo McGhee scored four points during that stretch, including a basket that gave MSUM a 43-34 lead with 19 minutes, 22 seconds to play in the second half.
The scoring burst help the Dragons play from the lead throughout the second half after trailing by as many and five points in the first half. The 6-foot-5 McGhee finished with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor and also grabbed six rebounds.
The Dragons used a 16-3 run in the first to surge into the lead for good. Stanley-Williams capped that surge with a 3-pointer for a 28-20 lead with 8:11 to play until halftime.
"When the shots are coming my way, that means the team is leaning on me," Stanley-Williams said. "Tonight was my night. I decided it was time.”
Stanley-Williams and McGhee each scored nine points in the opening 20 minutes to help build a 37-34 halftime lead for the Dragons. MSUM shot 41% (13 of 32) from the floor in the first half and also had 11 second-chance points.
Bergstraser liked the way his team responded after the loss to UMD.
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“There’s no room for getting frustrated," Bergstraser said. "We’ve got an old group and they know that (Friday) night against Duluth was not good enough. We made way too many mistakes and we didn’t have fight from the jump.”
The Dragons scored 46 points and shot 56% (18 of 32) from the field in the second half against the Huskies.
“We were finishing at the rim and we were just keeping it simple," Bergstraser said. “We found a way to learn and improve.”
SCSU (7-16, 4-14 NSIC): Willert 5-7 2-2 13, Taylor 6-13 8-10 20, Renta 1-6 0-0 2, Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Bagley 4-10 2-5 12, Aguilar 1-3 1-2 3, Dahl 4-8 0-0 8, Mutimer 3-6 3-3 10, Jentzen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 16-2 68.
MSUM (19-5, 14-4): Stanley-Williams 8-14 3-3 22, Zimmer 4-5 1-2 10, McGhee 6-12 6-8 18, J. Beeninga 3-15 2-2 10, Baumgartner 5-8 0-0 11, Kinsey 2-3 2-4 6, Myren 3-6 0-1 6, Kaiser 0-1 0-0 0, E. Beeninga 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 14-20 83.
Half: MSUM 37, SCSU 34. 3-point goals: SCSU 4-15 (Willert 1-1, Taylor 0-2, Renta 0-2, Bagley 2-5, Aguilar 0-2, Dahl 0-1, Mutimer 1-2), MSUM 7-24 (Stanley-Williams 3-4, Zimmer 1-2, McGhee 0-2, J. Beeninga 1-22, Baumgartner 1-3, Myren 0-1, Kaiser 0-1). Total fouls: SCSU 19, MSUM 18. Technical foul: Griffin. Rebounds: SCSU 29 (Bagley 5), MSUM 40 (Stanley-Williams 7). Assists: SCSU 12 (Taylor 4, Bagley 4), MSUM 17 (Baumgartner 7). Turnovers: SCSU 10, MSUM 7.
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