Nov. 28, 2003

BROOKINGS, SD. -- South Dakota State used a 47-30 run in the final 16 minutes of the first half to take a 56-44 halftime lead and hung on to defeat the Bemidji State men’s basketball team, 96-85 at the Jackrabbit Thanksgiving Classic in Brookings, S.D. tonight.

SDSU moved to 7-0 on the season and is ranked No. 15 in the NCAA DII Bulletin Preseason Poll. Meanwhile, BSU dropped to 3-2 on the young campaign.

Long range shooting was typical of the Beavers in the early going as four of their first five baskets were of the three-point variety. Marlon Walker’s first career trifecta capped a 14-9 game-opening run for BSU. That was the largest lead for the Green and White. The Jackrabbits turned to guard Andy Moeller from there to get back in the game. Moeller totaled 16 points in the first 20 minutes, hitting on three-of-five from long range. At one point, he scored eight of his team’s 15 points to help SDSU to the halftime edge.

The Beavers cut the deficit to seven on a couple occasions in the second frame, the last being 69-62 with 13:46 remaining. A lay-up by junior guard James Robersonended a 14-7 BSU run. But, the Jackrabbits tightened up the intensity and led by at least ten points with the clock under 10 minutes. In fact, BSU was held without a point for 3:35 near the end as SDSU expanded its lead from 13 to as much as 18.

South Dakota State held a 53-33 rebounding edge and forced BSU into 21 turnovers. Both teams shot in the sub-50 percent range with SDSU at 47.3 percent (35-of-74) and BSU at 45.7 percent (32-of-70). The ‘Jacks connected on 20 free throws compared to just seven by BSU.

Senior Charles Hanks led five Beavers in double-figures with 17 points on six-of-12 shooting. Roberson tallied a career-best 16, junior Amir Major had 13 points with a personal-best three long-range bombs, junior Sherwin Johnson recorded 11 points and sophomore Kenneth Pointer tallied 10 points and tied team-high rebounding honors with Hanks with seven boards.

Moeller ended with 23 points to lead all players. Derrick Schantz added 20 points on eight-of-11 shooting.

The road does not get any easier for BSU as it will take on No. 3 South Dakota in the final day of the Jackrabbit Thanksgiving Classic in Brookings, S.D. tomorrow. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Frost Arena.


NOTE: The Beavers have now dropped all five meetings with SDSU in the overall series...With the 14 three-pointers on the night, BSU has now hit on 10 or more in 35 out of a possible 62 contests under coach Jeff Guiot...BSU is now 0-4 under Guiot when facing nationally ranked opposition...Adam Daley has hit one or more three-pointer in 23 straight games after going one-for-two tonight...Charles Hanks has now led the team four out of five games on the season in scoring after his 17 points tonight; he leads the club with a 17.6 points per game average in 2003-04...The Beavers have averaged 13.0 three-point baskets per contest this season - up from their NCAA-leading 11.7 per game in 2002-03...BSU has now been out-rebounded in four of its five contests this year and hold a minus-seven rebounding average per game.