Feb 25, 2006

BEMIDJI, Minn. – [box score] The No. 6 Winona State University men's basketball team led from wire to wire Saturday afternoon at the BSU Gymnasium as it defeated Bemidji State University 85-67 to earn a split in the season series.

The Winona State offensive attack, which shot better than 52 percent in the game (30-57), was paced by Zach Malvik's 29 points. All-American candidate David Zellmann added 18 while Jonte Flowers recorded the game's only double-double with 10 points and game-highs of 10 rebounds and six assists.

Sherwin Johnson (Sr., G/F, Macon, Ga.) netted 15 points on 6-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the line. He led a quartet of BSU players with at least 11 points. Fellow senior Duane Fields (G, Los Angeles, Calif.) added 13 while Alvin Muse (Sr., G, South Holland, Ill.) and Stacy Pearson-Taylor (Sr., Miami, Fla.) each pitched in 11 points.

Manuel Guzman (Sr., C, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) led BSU on the glass hauling in nine rebounds while scoring nine points. Derik Hollyfield (Sr., G, Aurora, Ill.) paced the team dishing out five assists and collecting five steals.

It took the nationally-ranked Warriors just five seconds to find the bottom of the net as Zellmann hit a three-pointer.

WSU would never look back.

BSU would keep Winona State within striking distance for the first 4:38 but a 16-6 run gave WSU an 11-point cushion with 7:39 to go in the half and the Warriors would cruise to a 17-poijnt halftime lead (40-23) scoring the last eight points of the stanza.

In the second half WSU would lead by as many as 19 (48-29) but a 9-4 run by the Beavers, capped by a Muse three, would slice the deficit to eight (64-56) with just over eight minutes to play. WSU quickly responded by rattling off seven consecutive points to go back up by 15 (71-56) with five minutes left on the clock and would roll to the 18-point win, 85-67.

Winona State finished the afternoon with an edge in virtually every statistical category. The Warriors out shot the Beavers 53 to 39 percent, held a 41-31 edge on the glass, out scored BSU 34-36 in the paint while topping the Beavers in both points off turnovers (22-15) and second-chance points (23-19).

The loss was the second consecutive to an NSIC opponent in the BSU Gymnasium and just the fourth loss to a conference opponent at home in the team's last 27 games.

Solidly in third place in the NSIC standings with an 8-5 record in league play, the Beavers are guaranteed a home quarterfinal NSIC/Red Baron Classic game but its opponent in that game is still unknown. A win over Concordia University-St. Paul tomorrow, would force CSP into sixth place at 5-9. That would mean the Golden Bears would be back in the BSU Gymnasium Wednesday. If CSP were to steal a win, it would move into a three-way tie with Southwest Minnesota State University and Wayne State College for fourth and BSU would host Wayne State College in the first round.

The Beavers are 13-12 overall and wrap up the 2005-06 regular season tomorrow when it welcomes the Golden Bears to the BSU Gymnasium in a 4 p.m. contest.