Blue Devils Come from 13 Points Down to Defeat Spartan Men
The M State Mens' Basketball team scored the first 9 points of their game against Riverland on Saturday in Fergus Falls, had a 13 point lead with under 9 minutes to play in the first half and led at halftime 38-31.
The M State Mens' Basketball team scored the first 9 points of their game against Riverland on Saturday in Fergus Falls, had a 13 point lead with under 9 minutes to play in the first half and led at halftime 38-31. Riverland was able to overcome that strong first half performance by the Spartans as they out-scored them 42-22 in the second half and took a 73-60 victory. It was their sixteenth consecutive win.
Riverland had only 5 turnovers on the day. They shot the ball well, hitting 44% of their field goal attempts, and they won the rebounding battle, 37-26. Leaders for the Blue Devils were Savier McCall (26 points, 9 rebounds), DeWayne Thompson (12 points, 3 assists) and Christian Campbell (12 points). They were a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line.
M State was led by Mikele Kambalo, who had 18 of his 22 points in the first half. The Riverland defense took Kambalo out of the game with perimeter pressure in the second half as he only had one shot after making 6-of-8 in the first half. Mason Muir added 15 points, despite sitting for 11 minutes of the first half with 3 fouls. Marqual Turner led the Spartans with 8 rebounds and Tyson McArthur finished with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
M State (9-6, 1-1 MCAC South) plays Anoka-Ramsey in Coon Rapids on Wednesday and will travel to Wisconsin to face Western Technical College on Saturday.