Beaver Battle

Wolves Lose Very Physical Game at Bemidji State

Bemidji, Minn. – No. 16 Northern State (20-4, 8-3 NSIC) dropped a 59-56 decision at Bemidji State (13-10, 8-4 NSIC) as the Wolves lose their second straight. The Wolves scored a season low 20 first half points to trail 28-20 at the intermission, but battled back and had two last second three point opportunities to send the game to overtime.

Coming into the game Northern State was ranked third in the North Central Region while Bemidji State came in ranked tenth.

In the game only 12 first half fouls were called and 29 total in the game.

The Wolves were down one with just over two minutes to play but turned the ball over three times before BSU connected on a pair of free throws. The Wolves then had two last second three point attempts to tie the game, but both shots were just off line.

The Wolves scored a season low 20 points in the first half after shooting only 8-of-29( (28%) from the field. They also struggled from outside as they were a meager 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. The Beavers shot 40% (10-of-25) from the field in the first half, but only 1-of-7 (14%) from three point range.

Both teams shot better in the second half as the Wolves opened second period on a 18-10 run to tie the game at 38. The Wolves were 12-of-24 in the second half while the Beavers were 11-of-28 (39%).

The Wolves only went to the free throw line 11 times in the game, hitting nine of them. The Beavers were 13-of-15 from the stripe.

Although it did not seem like it, the Wolves out rebounded the Beavers 34 to 30 on the night and 13 to 12 on the offensive end.

Leading scorer for the Wolves were Aaron Busack (Sr., F, Redwood Falls, Minn.) and Craig Nelson (R-So., G, Mayville, N.D.) who both scored 11. Adam Grant (Sr., F, Berthold, N.D.) added ten in the game.

The Wolves travel to Crookston, Minn. to battle the Golden Eagles Saturday night at 8:00 p.m.

Press Notes