Dec. 3, 2005

BEMIDJI, Minn.– [box score] The Bemidji State University men's basketball team went without a field goal for 12:15 in the second half as Mesa State College used a 23-7 run to power to a 67-56 win over the Beavers Saturday night at the BSU Gymnasium.

The Beavers shot a season low 26.2 percent from the field hitting just 17-of-65 shots attempted while a more efficient MSC squad was 20-for-42 (.476) from the floor overcoming a total of 23 turnovers to steal the win from BSU on their home court.

"This was a tough loss," commented head coach Patrick Smith after the game. "We gave up 67 points in the entire game--that's pretty good. The press is supposed to give you more offensive opportunities. Well, we got out chances, we just missed a lot of easy shots."

BSU was led in scoring by senior guard Alvin Muse (South Holland, Ill.) who netted 12 points. Duane Fields (Sr., G/F, Los Angeles, Minn.) added 11 points hitting a team-high 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. Spencer Carter (Sr., F, Chicago, Ill.) led all players with 11 rebounds and five steals, pulling down a double-digit rebounding total for the fifth time this season.

Mesa State had three players in double-figures led by Darnell Jones who was 4-of-7 from behind the arc for a game-high 15 points while Andy Classick added 14 points in the paint and Stephen Soriano and Andre Carter each totaled seven rebounds.

Both teams were sluggish out of the gates combining for just 20 points during the first 10 minutes of play.

The Beavers took a 7-6 lead just 3:23 into the game and although the Mavericks would come back to tie the score (15-15) midway through the first half, the Beavers would rip off ten points during the next 2:30 to take a 10-point lead. The team would extend that lead to 11 points with 4:20 to go before the halftime buzzer sounded, but MSC went on a 8-1 run to close out the half slicing its deficit to 32-28.

BSU would get a pair of layups by Manuel Guzman (Sr., C, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and a three from Muse during the first 2:16 of the second half, but the Beavers would fail to record a field goal during the next 12:15 missing 15 consecutive attempts. During that same span of time the Mavericks hit 7-of-14 shots to transform a five point BSU advantage into 13-point lead of their own.

BSU would never be able to recover. Despite an eight-point run to cut the MSC lead to five points (55-50) with 3:42 to go in the game, foul trouble caught up with BSU as the Beavers, whistled for a total of 29 fouls in the game, put the Mavericks in the double bonus during the final three minutes. MSC went 9-for-12 from the line in the closing minutes to put the game out of reach for the Beavers.

BSU's 56-point output is the lowest of the season and its .262 shooting percentage is the single worst shooting performances at BSU in the last 14 seasons. Only six times since the 1992-93 season has BSU shot less than 30 percent from the field.

The loss drops Bemidji State to 3-5 on the year while MSC improves to 5-1. The Beavers wrap up their current three-game homestand Dec. 10 with a non-conference tilt versus the University of North Dakota. Tip-off is slated for 5:00 p.m.