Men’s Basketball Splits, But Beats Former Coach

The Bemidji State men’s basketball team lost at 14th ranked St Cloud State Friday night, but knocked off former coach Matt Bowen and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Saturday.

Friday Night

The Bemidji State University men’s basketball team did battle with No. 14 St. Cloud State University Friday, but in the end was on the losing end of a 68-60 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest in St. Cloud, Minn. The loss moves the Beavers to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in NSIC play.

The Beavers got an inspired performance from senior Mason Walters (F, Milton, Wis.), who scored 17 points and tied a career-high 11 rebounds for his second-career double-double. He went 7-for-10 (70%) from the field in the game. Senior guard Dermaine Crockrell (Mesa, Ariz.) tallied 14 points and seven rebounds.

Bemidji State shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and the No. 1 team in the nation in 3-point percentage went 4-for-8 in the first half from downtown, but shot 27.6 percent overall and was 1-for-11 in the second half to post a 26.3 percentage from beyond the arc when the final buzzer sounded. BSU finished the game with 21 turnovers that resulted in a 25-12 St. Cloud State advantage in points off turnovers.

The Beavers came out of the gates with a purpose and jumped out to an 8-0 lead to force a SCSU timeout. The Huskies came out of the 30 second break and posed an 11-4 run to get within one at 12-11. BSU battled back and a lay-up from sophomore Tor Anderson (G, Minnetonka, Minn.) handed the road team a 23-14 lead with nine left in the first frame.

The BSU first half lead got as low as three on a couple occasions, but senior Jason Edwards (G, Phoenix, Ariz.) hit a cold-blooded buzzer-beater 3-pointer to take a 38-30 advantage into halftime. Walters had 11 points and eight boards at the break and Crockrell posted nine points with five rebounds. SCSU was 0-7 from 3-point land and the Beavers had seven offensive boards to own a 9-1 second chance advantage.

A different Huskies team came out of the locker room, as SCSU cut the Beaver lead to two on a 6-0 start to the final 20 minutes. A Crockrell dagger from downtown handed BSU the 49-40 lead with 14:15 showing on the clock, but the Beavers followed with a cold spell.

The Beavers failed to score for almost four minutes, getting a pair of free throws from Walters to break the slide and give BSU a 51-46 lead with just over 10 left. The Beavers were able to maintain a small lead for about three minutes, but a SCSU 9-0 run saw the home team find its first lead of the game at 58-56, then a four-point lead at 60-56 with 4:26 showing on the game clock.

A Crockrell steal and fast break lay-up got the Beavers within two at 60-58 with 2:15 remaining in regulation, but that would be as close as Bemidji State would get, en route to the eight point loss.

The Beavers now head to University of Minnesota Duluth for a 6 p.m. tilt against the Bulldogs and the former Bemidji State head coach Matt Bowen.

Saturday Night

After heading into the locker room tied 29-29, Bemidji State University men’s basketball team posted a 37-26 advantage in the second half, en route to a 66-55 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory at University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday at Romano Gymnasium in Duluth, Minn.

The Beavers were guided by senior guard Dermaine Crockrell (Mesa, Ariz.), as he posted 17 points on 8-for-15 (53.3%) shooting from the field and added five rebounds with two steals. Senior Mason Walters (F, Milton, Wis.) posted back-to-back double-doubles with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward Zach Noreen (Avon, Minn.) added 15 points on a 7-for-12 (58.3%) shooting in a dominate performance in the post.

The first half saw eight lead changes and six tied scores as the two squads traded buckets for 20 minutes. Neither team found a lead larger than a pair of possessions. As the half wound down, the Beavers got a jumper from Noreen and a put back lay-up from sophomore Tor Anderson (G, Minnetonka, Minn.) to take a 29-25 lead with 2:06 remaining. UMD followed with a 4-0 run to close the half and the game was tied 29-29 heading into the locker room.

At the break, Crockrell was leading all scorers with 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. The Beavers allowed eight offensive rebounds that led to 11 second chance points for the Bulldogs. BSU tallied nearly half its points in the paint with 14, getting seven points each from of its bigs, Noreen and Walters. The Beavers shot 41.9 percent from the field in the frame, while allowing 35.5 percent shooting from UMD.

The Bemidji State offense found a rhythm early in the second half and it didn’t take long for the road team to open a nine-point advantage at 41-32 with 15:13 showing on the game clock. During that time all three BSU leading scorers scored four points. A minute later a lay-up by junior Maxie Rosenbloom (F, St. Paul, Minn.) pushed the lead to double-figures at 43-33 and the lead stayed at 10 or larger the rest of the game.

Crockrell put the lead to 18 at 57-39 with 6:17 remaining, then the lead hit its highest point at 66-45 with 3:27 showing on the game clock. That would be the last bucket BSU would produce, but the lead was large enough to avoid a comeback and the Beavers posted the 11-point win.

The Beavers shot 49.1 percent in the game and held the Bulldogs to 32.8 percent from the field. BSU allowed 16 offensive rebounds that led to 17 second chance points by UMD. BSU won the paint by the score of 24-16. BSU only attempted eight free throws, but went 8-for-8.

The Beavers will host University of Mary and Minot State University Dec. 14-15 at the BSU Gymnasium to wrap-up the 2012 calendar year before taking a break for the holidays.