JAN 31, 2004

CROOKSTON, Minn. [box score] The Bemidji State men's basketball wouldn't let history repeat itself in Crookston. The Beavers out-scored Minnesota-Crookston 48-24 in the second half and ran away with a 85-53 victory at Lysaker Gymnasium. BSU lost a thriller the last time these teams met last February in Crookston on a half-court buzzer beater.

The Beavers, which maintained their hold of first place in the NSIC, improved to 13-7 overall and 8-1 in the league. The Golden Eagles fall to 3-16 and 1-7 in the NSIC.

After UM-Crookston notched the game's first bucket coming of the three-point variety, BSU senior All-America Charles "Buster" Hanks scored nine of his team's first 11 points to give BSU a 11-7 lead. The Beavers never trailed from that point on in the first 20 minutes.

The Beaver eventually crawled out to a 37-29 halftime lead thanks to a 11-7 run in the final 4:49. Back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Martez Young and senior Adam Daley ignited that spurt.

Daley's second three-pointer of the game gave BSU a 40-29 out of the locker room. The Beavers lead would never get threatened as they maintained a double-digit margin for the rest of the game.

Limiting UM-Crookston to just two baskets over a span of 5:02, BSU scored 11 consecutive points to take a 55-37 advantage. The Golden Eagles shot just 37 percent in the second half, turning the ball over eight times.

BSU won the rebounding battle 45-27 and shot a sizzling 62 percent in the second half as it finished at 52 percent. UM-C was held to 37 percent overall and just four-of-17 from three-point land (.235).

Hanks, who had his 14th career double-double by halftime, finished with a career-high 16 rebounds and added 20 points. Daley finished with 16 points as he shot four-of-seven from beyond arc. Sophomore Kenneth Pointer recorded a season-high 15 points and added five rebounds.

Bilal Hill and Adam Sullivan led the Golden Eagles with 10 points apiece.

On the docket, the Beavers return home for a twin set against Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul, Feb. 6-7. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. at the BSU Gymnasium.

NOTE: In the overall series, BSU holds a 24-11 advantage having won seven of the last nine...Charles Hanks has scored in double figures in 20 straight games, the longest such streak for a Beaver player since Kevin Nichols posted 10-plus points in all 26 of his games in 1993-94...Hanks stands with 1,395 career points, good for fourth on the BSU list and moves into ninth-place on the NSIC Career Scoring list with 870...Entering the game, UM-Crookston led the conference in rebounding margin (+4.3), but was -18 tonight...BSU is 36-4 under coach Guiot when leading at the half...BSU's +18 rebounding advantage was the most since it was +20 against St. Scholastica (Dec. 9, 2003)...BSU kept up at their league-leading three-point pace with 10 treys tonight, they average 10.5 on the season.