Jan. 3, 2003

Bemidji, Minn. - At the BSU Gymnasium tonight, Bemidji State (5-7, 1-2) forced Minnesota-Crookston (1-8, 0-2) into 29 turnovers and grabbed a 20-9 early advantage as it went on to win big, 99-59, in conference action.

“ Our intensity tonight was consistent,” said head coach Jeff Guiot. “Usually we have gone in spurts this season with our intensity. This was the first game for all 40 minutes that we were consistent. When we play like that, our rebounding and defense pick up.”

UM-Crookston scored the game’s first bucket but after a free throw by senior center Ben Caron (Bemidji, Minn.) and a jumper by junior forward Charles Hanks(Chicago, Ill.), the Beavers went on a 14-2 run as they would take the lead for good. After trimming the BSU lead to five at 25-20, the Golden Eagles went ice cold from the floor. They turned the ball over seven times and missed all seven of their shots during that span as Bemidji State increased its advantage to 50-20 at 1:20. UM-Crookston went without a point for a span of 8:15.

With the Beavers up 52-23 at the half, UM-C was just seven of 27 (25.9 percent) from the field and got out-rebounded 31-16, including a 14-4 disadvantage in offensive rebounds. Senior guard Jeff Lorenson (Cannon Falls, Minn.) and senior guard Stan Johnson (Salt Lake City, Utah) tied for a game-high nine points at that point.

The BSU lead got to as much as 45 at 87-42 with 8:23 remaining in the game. From that point, coach Guiot freely substituted his bench players as the likes of freshman forward Kevin Hill (Chicago, Ill.) and freshman guard Kenneth Pointer(Killeen, Tex.) played more than normal. Both players tied career-highs for points as Hill had two and Pointer tallied six.

For the game, BSU went 46.1 percent from the floor as it connected on 11 three-point field goals. Junior guard Adam Daley (Des Moines, Iowa), who had a team-high 14 points, was four-for-six from behind the arc, as he led six Beavers in double-figure scoring. The Beavers went 18-for-24 from the free-throw line compared to the 12 of 18 on the part of UM-C.

UM-Crookston was just 36.4 percent (20 of 55) from the field.

Lorenson, Johnson, Caron and senior center Chris Wallin (Mesa, Ariz.) all had 12 points apiece while Hanks added 11 to round out the double-figure scorers. Senior guard Aaron Kallhoff (Norfolk, Neb.) had a team-high eight rebounds, which is also a personal-best and matched a career-high with seven assists for the victors.

The top-team in the league in MSU Moorhead (9-1, 2-0) visits Bemidji tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. The Dragons defeated Minnesota-Duluth (4-8, 0-3) tonight in Duluth, 71-67, as they went 13-for-26 from three-point land.


Notes: Bemidji State has averaged nearly 28 three-point field attempts per game this season and is on pace to smash the school record of 694 set last season - if it stays on pace, it will total 751...The 40 attempted three-pointers for BSU tonight is second only to the 42 attempted against South Dakota State (11/30), which was a school record...The rebounding edge (44-37) that BSU enjoyed was just the sixth time this season that it has accomplished that - BSU is 4-2 in those contests...The Beavers attempted six more free throws (24-18) than UM-C, which is just the third time that they have done that in 2002-03 - the Beavers are now 3-0 when that happens...Jason Bonde tallied a personal-best nine points and seven rebounds.