Nov. 21, 1999

Northern State earned a hard-fought 93-83 season-opening victory over Jamestown College Sunday in Wachs Arena.

The Jimmies came into the game brandishing a 6-1 record, while NSU had suffered only two exhibition losses before the contest. The win was the first not only for the Wolves this season, but for new head coach Don Meyer at Northern State. The not-so rookie head coach now has 703 career victories under his belt, placing him 17th all-time on college basketball's winningest coaches list.

The Wolves built a five-point halftime advantage and led by as many as 12 points in the second half. Even with a new coach prowling the sidelines, one of the big reasons for another NSU win in Wachs Arena looked familiar: good shooting. NSU shot 58 percent for the game and 55 percent from downtown. Junior guard Jared Miller (Mitchell) led NSU with 22 points and seven rebounds. Junior post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) looked good in NSU's post rotation, tying a career high with 18 points. Sophomore post Andy Foster (Caledonia, Minn.) rounded out NSU's double-digit scorers with 12 points. The two also had their share of dunks on the night. After one dominating Dahl dunk, the Wolves had trouble shooting at a moving target their next few possessions as the backboard and entire basket support was still reverberating from the force of Dahl's throw-down.

Senior point guard Matt Sevareid (Mitchell) fared well in relief of injured three-year starting point Scott Hanson (Tolna, N.D.), doling out a game-high seven assists to go with five points. Senior forward Dan Fischer (Bagley, Minn.) reached a career milestone that was put off last year when the sharpshooter went down with a foot injury. Fischer ended the night with nine points, just enough to reach the 1,000 point career mark. All of his points came in traditional Fischer fashion, from behind the 3-point line.

Jamestown's 6-foot-9 senior center Keith Kincaid led the Jimmies with 28 points and eight boards.