ABERDEEN, South Dakota -- Senior forward Jermane Carter scored all but two of his game-high 20 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough for Midwestern State to overcome ice cold shooting and critical foul trouble Friday night in the Dacotah Bank Thanksgiving Classic at Wachs Arena.

Senior Jordan Belka paced a group of five Northern State players in double figures to lead the Wolves to an 84-70 win.

The Mustangs (2-3) outscored Northern State by eight points in Carter's 23 minutes on the floor, but the Wolves took advantage during the final 11 minutes of the first half after Carter went to the bench with two fouls.

During that stretch, Northern State doubled up the Mustangs 26-13 and used an 11-2 run capped by Cole Bergen's jumper with 2:41 remaining until halftime to extend its lead to a game-high 40-20.

Carter, who played 16 minutes in the second half, delivered his second consecutive 20-point effect going 8-for-15 from the field with a pair of 3-pointers, while grabbing seven rebounds.

Foul trouble also hampered fellow starting forward Jalin Brown, who was limited to 17 minutes before fouling out with four points and four rebounds.

The Mustangs also struggled from the floor in the opening half shooting a meager 29.6 percent also going 2-of-9 from the 3-point arc. The troubles extended to the free throw line with MSU knocking down just half of their 12 charity tosses in the opening 20 minutes.

Midwestern State battled back with a strong second half whittling the Northern State advantage to 10 points on consecutive possessions -- both on buckets from Carter -- to get within 65-55 with 8:38 to play.

The Wolves scored the next nine points to push the advantage back to 19 before MSU made another push.

Once again, it was Carter burying a 3-pointer and consecutive jumpers before handing the scoring torch to sophomore Pierre Sanders.

The Hutto native hit a pair of free throws, a step-back 3-pointers and a runner in the lane to get the Mustangs back to within 10 points 79-69 with 1:21 to play.

Sanders' run polished off a solid line of 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists, but Northern State closed out the game going 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to seal the victory.

MSU junior guard Jamey Sanders buried three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Despite battling through foul issues with multiple big men, the Mustangs managed to score 14 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.

Junior guard Sam Masten booked 16 points and eight rebounds for Northern State which improved to 5-3 on the season, while junior Augustin Reede buried three triples to finish with 12 points. Bergen and Kobe Busch also finished in double figures with 10 points each.

Midwestern State closes the Dacotah Bank Thanksgiving Classic Friday afternoon against Minnesota Crookston. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.