[box score]

Jan. 6, 2004

BEMIDJI, MINN. -- Balanced scoring was the norm for the Bemidji State men’s basketball team in the 94-83 win against Northern State. Five Beavers notched 10-plus points with junior James Roberson leading the way with 17 points.

The Beavers have swiped four consecutive meetings against the defending regular season conference champions from a year ago.

BSU, which now sits 8-6 overall after three straight wins, moves to 3-0 in the NSIC for just the second time in the last 32 years and runs its league regular unbeaten streak to eight games. The Wolves fall to 7-5 on the season and 0-2 in the league.

Both teams shot extremely well in the early going with BSU opening up five-for-five and Northern State four-of-five from the floor. The hosts were able to take a 16-10 advantage, it’s second of three six-point leads in the first half.

BSU used a thundering dunk by freshman Martez Young off a half-court feed by senior Jamal Clements to cap an 11-5 run to go up 39-34 with 53 seconds left. Both clubs battled the entire stanza with the Beavers holding a slight 39-37 lead after the first 20 minutes.

After a Aaron Busack lay-up put the Wolves up 60-59, its first lead of the game, a jumper by junior Amir Major and seven straight points by junior Sherwin Johnson sparked a 13-2 BSU run over a 3:46 span. At that point, BSU took control with a 72-62 lead with 6:24 remaining. NSU could only cut the score to 75-69 as BSU hit seven-of-eight free throws in the final 1:18 to seal the NSIC victory.

For the fourth time this year and second in two games, BSU shot over 50 percent, going 34-of-63 (.540) overall. It hit on 11-of-24 three-pointers with Roberson and Daley recording three apiece. NSU hit for a 49 percent (32-of-66) clip but just eight-of-23 from beyond the arc. The guests held a slight 38-33 rebounding edge.

Senior Charles Hanks, who reached double-figures for the 14th straight contest, scored 15 points on seven-of-11 shooting. The reigning NSIC Player of the Week (Jan. 5) in senior Adam Daley threw in 14 points and four rebounds while Johnson and sophomore Kenneth Pointer added 12 points apiece. Johnson grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

Busack used his physical style of play to notch 22 points on eight-of-10 shooting to lead the Wolves. Jarod Obering finished with 16 points with four treys and Matt Hammer came away with 11 points and a team-high eight boards.

The Beavers look to avenge an 88-85 loss to Minnesota Crookston last February as they will host the Golden Eagles, Saturday, Jan. 10 for an 8:00 p.m. affair. UM-C lost 82-79 in overtime to MSU Moorhead and fell to 2-12 overall and 0-3 in the league.


NOTE: Even with the four straight wins, BSU is down 18-41 in the overall series with Northern State...The 94 BSU points against Northern State is the third-highest in the series - the Beavers hit for 95 points on two occasions...The Beavers have won five straight home contests against league opposition...After getting out-scored from the foul line in 11 of their first 12 contests, the Beavers hold a 35-25 edge in the last two games...The 2001-02 club, which was coach Jeff Guiot’s first season, went undefeated against the likes of Wayne State (Neb.), SW Minnesota State and Minnesota Crookston to open up conference play - the 1971-72 club won its first eight league contests when BSU was a member of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference...BSU moves to 31-9 when shooting over 45 percent and 31-4 when leading at the half in the Guiot era (2001-present)...In the three NSIC wins this season, BSU has shot 51 percent from the field, including 44 percent from long distance, and averaged 91 points...Charles Hanks moved into seventh-place on the BSU Career Scoring List with his 15 points, he stands with 1,257 needing just 15 more for the sixth-spot...Adam Daley is averaging 16 points in his last six contests after averaging eight in his first eight games.