Spartans secure the 73-59 victory on the road at Northland Community and Technical College.
The Minnesota State Spartans used a 11 to 2 run to close the game that featured 14 lead changes before the Spartans were able to secure the 73-59 victory on the road at Northland Community and Technical College.
The game was back and forth throughout the first half as both teams used timely scoring runs along with getting timely stops on the defensive end. Noel Kabanga and Foday Sheriff combined for most of the M-State point production. Kabanga scored 11 of his game high 25 points in the first half while Sheriff added 8 of his18 points in half one as well. Their scoring and the team's aggressive defense allowed the Spartans to have a narrow 31-30 lead at the intermission.
The second half was like the first half as 8 lead changes occurred. Northland took their final lead at 13:20 but Yonis Mohamud's three-point shot gave the Spartans the lead for good. Mohamud and Mikele Kambalo made two more three-point shots with under 8 minutes to play in the second half followed by a Noel Kabanga dunk assisted by a full court pass off a recovery by Matt Gooselaw. This stretched the M-State lead to 12 with securing the Spartan lead for good and allowing them to record their third victory in three tries.
Minnesota State was lead by Noel Kabanga with 25 points and ten rebounds. Foday Sheriff scored 18 while pulling down 10 rebounds. Yonis Mohamud and Mikele Kambalo scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Northland was led by Malic Osei-Tutu with 19 points.
Minnesota State will travel to Grand Rapids on Tuesday night to take on Minnesota North College – Itasca.