Feb. 22, 2003


Bemidji, Minn. - In the final regular season game at the BSU Gymnasium, Bemidji State (14-11, 10-6 NSIC) rode the play of its six seniors as five of them scored in double-figures in the 118-70 romp over Minnesota-Morris (2-24, 0-17 NSIC).

Senior guard Stan Johnson (Salt Lake City, Utah) led the way with 18 points as seven Beavers had 10 or more points.

“It was a special night for the seniors as it was their last regular home game of the season,” said head coach Jeff Guiot. “This group of seniors is a great bunch. Not only on the basketball court but they have a g.p.a. (grade point average) of 3.45.”

Senior guard Aaron Kallhoff (Norfolk, Neb.) hit one of BSU’s 17 three-pointers on the night to open a 14-4 game-opening run. UM-M’s David Holler, who led all scorers with 35 points, brought the guests to within six points at 16-10 with 15:38 remaining. That was as close as they would get as BSU countered with a 54-19 run to end the half and put the game out of reach. The Beavers led 70-29 at intermission thanks to 66 percent (23 of 35) shooting including a 12 of 19 mark (.632) from three-point land. Johnson already had 16 points at the break with Kallhoff and junior forward Charles Hanks (Chicago, Ill.) chipping in 10 each.

The Cougars could only light the scoreboard for 10 points in a span of 9:28 to begin the second half as their deficit increased to 54 points with 10:32 remaining. Even with all 11 Beavers logging 10 or more minutes in the contest and every one scoring, UM-Morris could never mount a comeback against the Beavers at home.

BSU cooled off in the second half (50 percent) but finished at 58 percent (42 of 73) while UM-Morris was held to 34 percent (26 of 77). The Beavers dished out a school-record 30 assists led by the six by Kallhoff. Also, BSU grabbed a season-high 51 boards .

Several BSU performers set personal-bests in scoring: freshman guard Jamal Clements(Parkhill, Colo.) with 17, senior guard Jason Bonde (Rochester, Minn.) with 14 and freshman forward Kevin Hill (Chicago, Ill.) with nine points in 16 minutes. Clements added a career-high eight rebounds to tie for game-high honors. Kallhoff (16), Hanks (12), senior center Chris Wallin (Mesa, Ariz.) (10) and senior guard Jeff Lorenson (Cannon Falls, Minn.) (10) rounded out the double-digit scorers.

Besides Holler’s effort, Eric Rohy was the only other Cougar in double-figures as UM-M went three of 14 from downtown as a team.

Currently, BSU is tied with three other teams (UM-Duluth, Wayne State, Winona State) for third in the league. Earlier today, UM-D lost to Northern State by four as NSU won its second straight regular season crown. Also, WSC took down Southwest State by 15 and WSU defeated UM-Crookston by the same margin. All four teams carry a 10-6 conference mark.

BSU has a chance to make some ground against one of those teams it is tied with in Winona State next Saturday in Winona, Minn. Prior to that, the Beavers invade Concordia-St. Paul on Friday as both games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m.


Notes: Since coach Guiot’s arrival, the Beavers are undefeated (4-0) against UM-M and have won by an average of 35 points...The 116-71 Bemidji State victory in the last meeting was the largest margin (45) in the overall series before tonight’s 48 point win...BSU has attempted at least 40 three’s in five games this season including a school and league record 46 against the Cougars the last time these two teams met in mid-January...The 118 points is second-most in school history behind the 126 against Northland (WI), Jan. 10, 1991...Holding UM-M to 34 percent shooting, BSU moves to 7-1 when its opponent is under 40 percent this season...The old record for assists in a season was 447 set in the 1993-94 campaign and ...Both Jeff Lorenson and Adam Daley stand at 133 three-point attempts on the year, which is a school record - the old one was set by Sean O’Hare last season with 129...With seven assists on the weekend, Royce Bryan is five away from third-place on the school’s career list as he totals 228.