Wagner debuts with 30 points as Beavers shoot to 117-60 win over Lumberjacks

Junior guard scored 30 points in his Bemidji State University debut to lead the men’s basketball team to a 117-60 win over Northland College to open the 2019-20 season in Bemidji, Minn., Saturday night. Wagner went 8-of-14 from 3-point range while sophomore guard Max Bjorklund added 23 points and five assists.

Wagner scored the first 11 points for Bemidji State on the night with three 3-pointers and a jumper in the paint. After the 11-2 start, BSU extended the lead past 10 points on a layup from Wagner midway through the first half before going up by 22, 36-14, on one of five 3-pointers from junior guard Jacob Hoffman at the six-minute mark. Wagner capped the first half with a buzzer-beating half-court shot to go into halftime with a 54-23 lead.

The Beavers shot 48.7 percent during the first half and improved during the second. Bjorklund scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half while holding the Lumberjacks to 36.4 percent in the final 20 minutes. Bjorklund put BSU up by 40 points, 75-35, with a fast break layup before Wagner put the team up by 50, 97-47, with 6:15 in the game with his final score of the night.

Following Wagner and Bjorklund in scoring was Hoffman with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc and junior forward Derek Thompson with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Senior guard Ja Morgan dished out 12 assists, one shy of the BSU single-game record. Sophomore forward Cody Landwehr was one point shy of a double-double with 11 rebounds and nine points.

Bemidji State returns to the BSU Gymnasium for the BSU Classic Nov. 15-16, taking on Mayville State University in an exhibition Friday and Martin Luther College for Bemidji Youth Basketball Day Saturday.