[box score]

Jan. 16, 2004

BEMIDJI, MINN. -- The Bemidji State men’s basketball team held Wayne State, the top three-point shooting team in the country, to just 13 percent from behind the arc in the 84-66 BSU win tonight at the BSU Gymnasium. Meanwhile, the Beavers shot 59 percent from the field in the second half, out-scoring the Wildcats 44-33 in the final 20 minutes.

Shooting at a 58 percent clip from behind the arc, BSU also limited the Wildcats to just 37 percent (25-of-68) from the floor.

Winning their 11th straight against NSIC regular season opposition, BSU improves to 11-6 overall and 6-0 in the league. Meanwhile, WSC drops to 10-7 and 4-2 in the conference.

Senior Charles Hanks netted a game-high 31 points on a 13-of-21 shooting night. He tied for game-high rebounding honors with sophomore Kenneth Pointer with eight.

After scoring just a basket for nearly the first three minutes, the Beaver offense got red-hot. With the Wildcats holding an early 6-2 edge at the 17:08 mark, BSU doubled up WSC 30-15 as it took a 32-21 lead at the 5:12 mark. A Colin Tague lay-up brought the Wildcats to within seven, 40-33, at the half.

A trey by Derek Archer at the 13:44 mark of the second had the guests thinking of an upset, but BSU’s offense woke up. With the score 52-48 in favor of BSU, a three-pointer by senior Adam Daley, coupled with a bucket by junior Sherwin Johnson pushed the lead back out to 57-48. After Archer’s three-pointer, the Wildcats went just one-of-10 from the floor as BSU expanded to a 67-51 lead.

The Beavers were never threatened from there as they notched their sixth straight win of the season. BSU now sits in first-place in the league standings with a two-game cushion over the Wildcats.

Overall, BSU was 53 percent from the floor and 79 percent from the foul line. Wayne State was just 14-of-22 from the foul line and got out-rebounded 34-41.

Daley was his automatic self from long range, going four-of-seven from behind the arc, on his way to 15 points. The Des Moines, Iowa native has hit at least three treys in each of his last eight games. Johnson finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Junior Ian Atkins led a BSU inside force that tied a season-high seven blocks - Atkins had four of those.

Brett Cain led the Wildcat scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds. Brett Watson went for 18 points. Archer, who went one-of-six from long range, was first in the country coming into the game with a 60.7 percent mark from downtown.

The final contest of a five-game home stretch awaits the Beavers tomorrow as SW Minnesota State comes into town. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at the BSU Gymnasium. SMSU dropped a 75-62 decision to Minnesota-Crookston to fall to 7-9 and 1-4 in the NSIC.


NOTE: In the overall series, BSU improves to 8-18 against the Wildcats with a 5-8 mark at home...The six consecutive NSIC wins is the best to start a campaign since the 1971-72 club won its first eight league contests when BSU was a member of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference...The Beavers have won six straight overall on the season, the longest since a six-game streak last February and March...Adam Daley ranks 10th in the nation with a 50 percent mark on three-pointers...Charles Hanks, who has notched 10-plus points in all 17 games this season, took over the 17th spot in the NSIC Career Points Record Book as he stands with 802; Jason Schneeweis from Minnesota Duluth had 782 from 1999-2003...With a 19-9 edge in assists, BSU has now gone eight consecutive contests with more dimes than the opposition...Coming into the game, Wayne State was first in NCAA Division II in three-point percentage (.482) and third in field goal percentage (.524)...Since coach Jeff Guiot arrived in 2001, the Beavers are a solid 16-2 when holding the opponent under 40 percent shooting.