Three days after taking L's in Aberdeen the MSUM Dragons men's and women's Basketball teams each had another chance at beating two of the best teams in the country, as Northern State became the visitor.
My intent was to show up as the Men were getting under way but being too early paid off again. There was four minutes remaining in regulation of the women's game and the Wolves were pacing the way on offense. MSUM wasn't far behind and didn't fold to the pressure, even as the time ticked low. On the contrary, NSU was the team that had trouble handling the pressure of the moment. Over a 94 second window within the last three minutes the Wolves went cold while the Dragons soared. After a three pointer from leading scorer Jacky Volkert (21) narrowed the deficit to two points, a layup by Drew Sannes (10) knotted the score at 51.
Twenty more seconds ticked away and the Wolves ran the lead back to six points with 30 seconds remaining. After a pair of timeouts within seconds of each, during which each team made a substitution, the clocked moved again but only seven went by before the next big time basket was scored, another three pointer by Volkert. With it, the energy in Nemzek rose at least three fold and the door remained ajar.
The door creaked up open slightly more after a pair of missed free throws by Northern. Well the Dragons were looking to not only push through opening but it to break it down. As the clock near single digits the ball came to the hands of Lauren Fech (7) who took the chance to play hero and made the most of it. Three points. Tie game. 10 seconds remained.
The Wolves had enough time to win it. After the in-bounds they got it in to position for a layup but they must either need to put more time in on the layup line or figure out a way to simulate the atmosphere in the Hall because the shot was too strong and the score remained even.
Five more minutes of play and the momentum was firmly on the side of the home team. A quick four points by Megan Hintz (13) was countered by a quartet of free throws, all made. Down to the second final two minutes and it couldn't be anyone but the lady that had already hit one of the biggest shots of the game, could it? Volkert took the pass and let it fly. Three ball. DAGGER!
Okay, so no one would have actually said that with two minutes remaining the contest but the pressure seemed to get to both teams the rest of the way. Every shot that was attempted was missed until the final possession and Northern State had the ball last, again. With seven seconds to go in the game and a timeout to draw up a play, it seemed like a second overtime was imminent. Whether the final shot play was executed properly or not, we'll never know, I mean I hope that a coach would never say either way. But yay or nay, I guess it wouldn't matter because the shot was made and the shot was blocked! It wasn't a Mutombo like sending back ten rows but Shannon Galegher got enough of the ball to affect it's trajectory and the team was able to celebrate a MASSIVE victory at half court!
The momentum and the energy didn't translate from first to second very well as many of the fans in attendance opted to leave. After watching Northern State hit three pointer after three pointer after three pointer it became crystal clear very quickly why they one of the top rated teams in the country. Another thing that was apparent was that their shooting the game before was not a fluke. On nearly every offensive possession the Wolves bench would rise, making it very obvious that they expected a triple. It's the new way of Basketball and it's reach Aberdeen. Not so quite yet for the Moorhead side of the action.
As the Avalanche of offense rained down on them, all they could do was just try to keep pace a little bit. But countering three's with two's is a losing equation 100% of the time. It didn't take long before the Dragons were down by double their score.
They made a bit of a rally in the second half but even then never managed to get the deficit to single digits. Northern State just shot too hot from deep. So while Moorhead has some good players, they're a long way from competing with the likes of NSU.
Making a full game a footnote to a few minutes of play wasn't what I intended to do, but the lady Dragons made themselves the story. I'm glad I didn't miss it!