Dec. 14, 2002

Bemidji, Minn. - After hitting for a 54.8 per cent (17-31) mark in the first half, Bemidji State (4-5, 0-0 NSIC) cooled down to 22.2 per cent (8-36) in the second as it lost to #11 Michigan Tech (8-0, 1-0 GLIAC), 80-70 in front of 273 fans.

“ I think the ball movement and spacing was good in the first half,” said head coach Jeff Guiot. “When we fed the ball inside, it opened the outside but we still need to feed it inside more. We need to be aggressive for 40 minutes, not just for 20 to 25.”

The Beavers led most of the first half by pounding the ball inside to senior centers Ben Caron (Bemidji, Minn.) and Chris Wallin (Mesa, Ariz.). Caron, who was 6-7 from the field in totaling 12 points, and Wallin, who got some good touches, got all of their shots off within six feet from the basket. The cushion would get to as much as six at 15-9 with 14:03 left in the first. The run was capped by one of junior guard Adam Daley’s (Des Moines, Iowa) four three-pointers. BSU forced Michigan Tech into eight turnovers in the first ten minutes.

At 7:29, the visitors went up 22-21 for their only lead of the first half. Bemidji State put a halt to a 13-6 MTU run on a lay-up by Caron to go back up heading into the locker room. BSU led 39-34 at the intermission.

The second half was a different story as BSU got cold from the field and Michigan Tech hit some clutch shots. In fact, the Beavers went scoreless until 16:03 in the second to come within a point at 41-40. From there, the Huskies scored 24 of the game’s next 36 points to go up 64-51 with 5:04 remaining. Daley hit back-to-back three-pointers after two free throws by senior guard Stan Johnson(Salt Lake City, Utah) to cut the gap to 65-59 with 4:05 left. BSU would trim the margin to six on two other occasions but Michigan Tech hit on 10 of its final 11 tries from the foul line.

The Huskies enjoyed 20 more attempts from the charity stripe as they were 27-37 with BSU going 12-17. They also held a 41-26 rebounding edge.

“The kids played hard and they want to be good,” said Guiot. “Now, we just need to put it all together.”

Daley led the Beavers with 14 points on 5-12 shooting and a career-tying 10 three-point attempts. Caron finished with 12 as did senior guard Royce Bryan (Haviland, Tex.). Johnson chipped in 10 points while senior forward Charles Hanks (Chicago, Ill.) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and had eight points.

The Huskies were led in scoring by J.T. Luginski with 25 points on 9-15 from the floor. Senior All-American forward Matt Cameron finished with 19 points, 13 of those coming in the second half while Jason Marcotte, who was 4-7 from “down-town,” added 16 and a game-high five assists.

BSU will rest until Dec. 28 & 29 when it opens up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. The Beavers travel to Wayne State (NE) and Southwest State for 7:30 p.m. tip-offs.

Notes: The 36 attempted three-pointers on the part of BSU continues its flurry of tri-fectas this season as it had 42 attempts against South Dakota State (11-30-02)...Two bench technicals were whistled against Bemidji State with one going to the head coach and the other being called on the fans...Royce Bryan went 7-7 from the free throw line and tied Jamal Clements for the game-high in steals with three...BSU has dropped five straight in the series to Michigan Tech...The 26 rebounds was a season-low for BSU and the low-mark since it grabbed 23 vs. Minnesota-Duluth (1-5-02).