Nov. 30, 2002
BROOKINGS, S.D. - [box score] South Dakota State raced to a 42-24 halftime advantage and never looked back en route to an 83-66 victory over the Bemidji State men's basketball team in the second round of the South Dakota State Thanksgiving Classic.

South Dakota State led from wire to wire, needing just 8:27 to build an 11-point lead at 18-7 and led by 21 points after a pair of free throws by Adam Robinson with three seconds to play in the opening stanza.

BSU fought back to within eight points after a conventional three-point play from Stan Johnson pulled the Beavers to 54-46 at the 11:23 mark of the second half, but the hosts answered with an 8-2 run to push the lead back to 14 and end the BSU threat. South Dakota State pushed its lead back to as many as 20 points twice in the second half, 81-61 at the 2:03 mark and 83-63 with 51 seconds to play.

Bemidji State suffered one of its worst shooting nights of the season, hitting on just 22 of 74 field goal attempts, including just nine of a school-record 42 attempts from three-point range. Johnson and Charles Hanks combined to hit on just seven of 28 field goal attempts (.250). Hanks went 3 for 14, including 1 of 8 from three-point range, scoring eight points while Johnson connected on four of 14, but hit on three of six from downtown to finish with a game-high 14 points. Hanks did have a game-high nine rebounds.

South Dakota State cruised behind a 22-point effort from guard Austin Hansen. He connected on eight of 15 field goals and was four-for-four at the charity stripe to become just the second player to hit for 20 or more points against BSU this season. Hansen led three South Dakota State players in double figures; Adam Robinson had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, while Chris Stoebner had 13 points, five boards and three assists.

Hanks earned a spot on the SDSU Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team for his efforts during the weekend. He had 24 points and 13 rebounds in the two-game Classic and added two assists, a block and a steal.

Bemidji State's 42 three-point field goal attempts in the contest crushed the school single-game record of 33, set on two previous occasions. The Beavers jacked up 33 shots from long range against Bethel College on Nov. 27, 2001 and against Minn. State-Mooorhead on Dec. 30, 2001.

The loss dropped the Beavers to 2-3 on the season and left them 0-2 in the Classic. South Dakota State improved to 3-1 on the year. Bemidji State is next in action Dec. 2, 2002 in its home opener, a 7:00 p.m. Central time tip-off against Wisconsin-Superior.