The Dominican University men’s basketball team dropped its seventh straight contest, falling to the MSOE Raiders 55-50 on Tuesday evening. The loss drops the Stars to 7-17 on the season and 4-12 in the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) with one game remaining in the Stars’ 2010-2011 season.

The Stars went 0-for-5 from the field and had four turnovers in falling behind 8-1 in the opening seven minutes against the Raiders. The Stars went on to shoot just 8-for-21 in the opening half and turned the ball over 12 times but trailed by just ten at the break 32-22.

Dominican turned up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding the Raiders to just one-point over the first nine minutes of the half, eventually taking a 36-33 lead with 11:49 to play as Darrius Nelson (Michigan City, Ind.) converted a four-point play as he hit one of his four three-point field goals of the night despite a Bennett Deacon foul.

Nelson extended the Stars lead to four, their largest lead of the night, as he hit on the front end of a two-shot foul on Dominican’s next possession.

The lead was short-lived for the Stars, as MSOE raced back in front behind a 7-0 run to take a 45-41 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the night.

MSOE’s Austin Meier led all scorers, pouring in 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field and going 9-for-12 from the foul line. The Raiders’ senior standout also added a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with five assists and two steals in 33 minutes.

Dominican was paced by Nelson’s 21 points on 6-for-10 shooting, going 4-for-6 from three and 5-for-8 from the free throw line. 

Durelle Garmon (Chicago, Ill.) and freshman Logan Harris (Pleasant Plains, Ill.) added ten points apiece in the losing effort for the Stars. Garmon also added a team-high nine rebounds, just missing his fourth double-double of the season.

The Stars will close out the 2010-2011 campaign on Saturday when they travel to Marian University to take on the Sabres in the annual NAC Challenge Game.