Nov. 11, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (Assembly Hall) - The Bemidji State University men’s basketball program opened its 2008-09 exhibition season at one of the most historic basketball programs in the nation as the Beavers traveled to Bloomington, Ind. to battle the Indiana University Hoosiers. IU defeated the Beavers 72-54 in front of 13,052 at Assembly Hall.

Brady Fairbanks (So., G, Bena, Minn.) and Seth Haake (Jr., G, Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the Beavers in the scoring column with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Fairbanks was 5-of-15 from the field and 2-of-9 from behind the arc while Haake garnered most of his points from the free-throw line as he was 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Sophomore’s Patrick Cassidy (St. Paul, Minn.) and Jimmy Johnson (Andover, Minn.) led the Beavers on the boards pulling down five rebounds apiece.

Malik Story led a trio of Hoosiers in double-figures netting a game-high 15 points making good on 6-of-9 from the field and adding seven rebounds. Nick Williams and Tom Pritchard each added 12 points while Pritchard hauled in a game-high nine rebounds. Daniel Moore dished out a team-high three assists for IU.

The Beavers were not intimidated by IU as the teams traded baskets all they way up until the twelve minute mark of the first stanza. IU’s Matt Roth put the Hoosiers up 3-0 off a three-pointer at the 19:14 mark of the first half but BSU would score the next five points taking its first lead of the game at 5-3 off a three-pointer by Fairbanks.

The Hoosiers regained the lead pushing it to 14-10 but another three-pointer by Fairbanks followed by a jumper by senior guard Gunther Zajic (Linz, Austria) gave BSU a 15-14 lead. BSU tied the score at 18-18 as Zajic hit BSU’s fourth three-pointer of the half at the 11:39 mark ,but the Hoosiers would go on a eight point run pushing its lead to 26-18 led by Devan Dumes as he had five of the eight Hoosier points during the run.

IU continued applying pressure and eventually pushed its lead to eleven points by the end of the half taking a 37-26 lead into the break.

The main difference in the half was free-throws and rebounding as the Hoosiers attempted ten more free-throws while grabbing eight more rebounds which attributed to thirteen more points. The Hoosiers shot 41-percent (12-29) in the half as BSU shot 33.3-percent (9-27) from the floor.

The Beavers came out in the second half and closed the Hoosiers lead to one (37-36) as BSU outscored IU 10-0 during the first 4:03 of the half. IU pushed its lead back to five (41-36) off a jumper by Nick Williams followed by a fast break layup by Daniel Moore.

IU continued to push forward extending its run to 14-4 pushing its lead back to eleven (51-40) capped off by a Kyle Taber layup and a Malik Story jumper with 11:01 remaining in the game. Bemidji State went cold after the hot start to the second half as BSU was held with out a field goal for 9:09 until Sergej Baskow (Jr., C, Ludwigsburg, Germany) ended the drought with a layup to close IU’s lead to 58-45. A pair of free-throws by Haake brought the Beavers back within eleven (58-47) with 4:42 left in the contest.

BSU continued to battle but eleven points was as close as the Beavers were able to get as Indiana pushed its lead to 18 by games end at 72-54.

Indiana outshot the Beavers .414 (25-58) to .333 (18-54) in the game and .313 (5-16) to .200 (4-20) from the three-point line. The Beavers committed 17 turnovers while the Hoosiers turned the ball over 13 times in the contest. BSU closed the gap at the free-throw line in the second half as they finished the game 14-or-21 (.667) while IU was 17-of-29 (.586) from the charity stripe.

With the loss, BSU drops to 0-15 all-time versus Division I opponents and 1-4 in exhibition games under Matt Bowen who is in his third season at Bemidji State.

Bemidji State will be back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 18, when the Beavers officially open the 2008-09 slate as they host the Jamestown College Jimmies at 7 p.m. from the BSU Gymnasium.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--beavers--