MOORHEAD, MINN – The exhibition season continued Friday night for the Mayville State University Comets men's basketball team, as they continued their Minnesota road trip, traveling north on Highway 59 to take on NCAA Division II powerhouse in the NSIC, Minnesota State University-Moorhead. The Comets battled back in the second half, but, in the end, fell to MSUM 100-68 at the Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.
 
"I thought we did some really good things on offense again tonight," Comets head coach Darren Tighe said following Friday's game.
 
Friday night's meeting was the first between the two schools since November 19, 2010, a 77-73 loss by the Comets.
 
MSUM got to a quick start, pulling out to a 16-3 lead less than six minutes in, with the lone Comet basket being a three-pointer by Jalen Valverde 2:32 into the game. Mayville State's Rene Melendez brought the Comets to within 12 points with 11:01 to go on a fastbreak basket and foul. The chance to cut the lead to 11 was thwarted when Melendez missed the free throw.
 
A hot shooting MSUM team eventually built a 24-point lead with just over a minute left, 56-32. Mayville State went into the halftime break down 58-32, with a scoring drought of 2:34.
 
In all, from the end of the first half until the 18:15 mark of the second half, the Comets were held scoreless for four minutes, 19 seconds. Iker Cruz broke the drought with a layup in the paint with 18:15 to go in the game, cutting Mayville State's deficit to 62-34.
 
A 6-0 run by the Comets, with buckets by Cruz, Valverde and Max Cooper, pulled the Comets to within 28 points with just under 15 minutes to play in the game.
 
Simon Ramirez came up big for the Comets down the stretch, as he accounted for seven straight points in a span of less than one minute, pulling the Comets to within a 75-48 margin with 12:38 to go in the game. Ramirez was hot from behind the arc, making some NBA-style three pointers along the way for the Comets.
 
Malachi Wharry's three points, on a free throw and a three-pointer, made it 93-62 with 3:41 to go.
 
The Comets defense stopped the MSUM offense for the last 90 seconds of the game.

"I liked how our guys kept pushing, pushing, pushing, even though things weren't going our way," Tighe said. "We need to be much more consistent on both ends of the floor."
 
Mayville State was led by Ramirez's 22 points on four-of-seven shooting from behind the three-point line.
 
The Comets are off until Tuesday, November 26 when they host the University of Minnesota-Morris for a non-conference matchup at 7:30 p.m. at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville.