Jan. 24, 2003


Bemidji, Minn. - Fueled by the 25 points by junior guard Charles Hanks (Chicago, Ill.) and 23 from senior guard Stan Johnson (Salt Lake City, Utah), Bemidji State (9-8, 5-3 NSIC) went on to defeat the remaining undefeated team in conference play, Winona State (8-9, 7-1 NSIC), 108-98 at the BSU Gymnasium.

The Beavers went 20 of 37 (.541) from the field in the first frame to take a 56-42 advantage heading into the locker room. From there, the Warriors would never recover.

“We shot the ball well tonight,” said head coach Jeff Guiot. “We had good ball movement and we came into the gym tonight ready to play. I think that the guys played unselfish and were looking for each other.”

BSU never trailed in the game as Hanks got the game rolling with a jumper in the lane. He was fed the ball repeatedly in the block area and shot most of his attempts within the paint area. The hosts went up 19-11 at 13:55 thanks to two free throws by senior guard Royce Bryan (Haviland, Kan.). The Warriors could only evaporate that lead to six in the half as Bemidji State responded with a 33-25 run to finish the first 20 minutes of action.

Bryan led the Beavers with 11 points at intermission as his six rebounds was part of a 23-13 Beaver advantage on the glass.

The contest would get interesting as WSU came within five points on two occasions in the second frame with the last being 84-79 with 6:31 to go. That score capped a 32-19 Warrior spurt. However, junior guard Adam Daley (Des Moines, Iowa) countered with one of his three tri-fectas to push the lead back to eight as the Beavers connected on seven of eight free throw attempts down the stretch.

Winona State came back in the second half thanks to 54 percent shooting as it finished 34 of 67 (.507) for the game. BSU held a 38-29 advantage on the boards as both teams shot free throws well with BSU going 22-for-25 (.880) and WSU going 19-for-24 (.792).

Behind the hot scoring on the part of Hanks and Johnson, BSU also received offense from Bryan, who tied a season-high with 19 points, and Daley, who went five of 10 from the floor for 16 points.

Winona State was led by the 25 points apiece from Zach Malvik and Jon Urbach.

“When they (Winona State) made their run, our guys dug deep and played to win,” said Guiot. “Coming into the game, we knew that they were undefeated (in conference). They have a good team overall and are well-coached. But we took care of business at home. The fans really got their money’s worth.”

BSU welcomes Concordia-St. Paul (2-15, 2-6 NSIC) for a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest tomorrow at the BSU Gymnasium. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. The Golden Bears lost to UM-Duluth tonight by a 84-70 count in Duluth, Minn.


Notes: The tides seemed to have turned as BSU has taken the last two meetings after tonight’s win - BSU defeated WSU in the first round of the league playoffs last season...Before BSU’s most recent success, Winona State had taken 14 of the last 16 meetings in the series and seven of the last eight in Bemidji, Minn....The Beavers have now dropped both of the league’s undefeated teams at the time this season - MSU Moorhead earlier and now Winona State tonight...The scoring totals for Charles Hanks and Stan Johnson are season-highs...With the 108 points on the night, BSU has gone over the century mark four times this season - the most in one campaign since it went five times during 1993-94...This is just the fourth time this season that Bemidji State has allowed an opponent to shoot over 50 percent...With 25 assists on the night, the Beavers are 5-0 when hitting for at least 20 assists this season.