ST. PAUL -- It was a battle of wills between Bemidji State and Minnesota State Moorhead Saturday in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament semifinals at the Gangelhoff Center.
MSUM's Jake Kruse hit a fall-away bank-shot in the lane as time expired to lift the No. 7-seed Dragons to a 79-78 overtime victory.
After an apparent game-winning shot by Bemidji guard Stan Johnson with 8.6 seconds remaining, Kruse deflected an inbound pass on Bemidji's end-line.
After a brief melee for the ball, Kruse's heroics sent the No. 3-seeded Beavers home for the second straight season in the second round.
The Dragons led early as Bemidji went 3of 11 from the field in the game's first 10 minutes.
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Three straight treys, two by Jamal Clements and one by Johnson, forced the Dragons into a time-out as BSU saw its first lead at 22-20. The game would stay close as neither team led by more than three as the Beavers went up 34-32 at the half. BSU is 16-2 when leading at the half.
After a Johnson trey put Bemidji State up by five, its biggest of the second half, there would be a combined five ties and lead changes in the first 13 minutes. MSUM¹s Eric Prchal hit back-to-back trifectas preceding a Jared Bledsoe floater to put the Dragons up 58-54 at the 5:21 mark.
After MSU Moorhead led by three on two occasions under four minutes, the Beavers used five straight field goals via the three-point fashion to take a 69-67 lead with 1:06 remaining. Johnson had three of his career-high seven threes during that stint.
From there, the Dragons received a goaltending call to tie the score at 69-69 with 15 seconds remaining.
The Dragons scored the first five points in overtime before Johnson connected on another 3-pointer to bring the Beavers within two points with 1:31 left. Johnson, a 78 percent free throw shooter, calmly sunk three foul shots to put Bemidji up 75-74 after being fouled behind the arc.
The Dragons got a steal after a missed opportunity and Bledsoe converted a three-point play with 8.6 seconds left.
With BSU trailing by a basket, Johnson pump-faked and hit his seventh trey of the night from the right wing to put his team up 78-77. MSUM called a time-out with 3.2 seconds remaining and turned the ball over after an errant lob pass.
Bemidji State finished 25 of 56 (.480) from the floor, including 17 of 39 from 3-point territory. Johnson finished with a game-high 24 points with 21 of them coming in the final 20 minutes. BSU got out-rebounded 36-28 with Hanks grabbing a team-high six.
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On the flip side, MSUM went 49 percent (29 of 59) from the floor as it got hot on the second half. Kyle Staloch, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds, paced five starters in double-figures. Marlon Samuel was limited to two points in the second half as he netted 13 in the first.
MSU Moorhead continues to the championship round and will face fourth-seeded Minnesota-Duluth tomorrow at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs took down Northern State, 68-65, in overtime in other semifinal action Saturday.
BSU finishes the season with a 17-12 record as seven players saw their careers come to a halt. MSUM improves to 19-9 and snapped a three-game BSU winning streak in the overall series.
