MENOMONIE, Wis. (Johnson Fieldhouse)-- Bemidji State University guard Kyle Scott (Phoenix, Ariz.) posted a career-high 13 points including a career-high eight rebounds to help lead the Beavers to its first win of the season, 69-59 over Northland College.

Bemidji State out scored the Lumberjacks 28-19 off of turnovers and netted 14 second chance points, 10 of which came in the second half to help the Beavers to the 10-point win and its first win of the 2007-08 slate. The Beavers also used 18 more points from its bench than the Lumberjacks in the contest (29-11).

The key stat of the game was that the Beavers doubled-up the Lumberjacks on the glass as the Beavers pulled down 45 rebounds (14-31) to the Lumberjacks 21 (4-17) in the contest that helped the Beavers net 20 points in the paint.

Scott led the team offensively posting a career-high 13 points and puling down eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. Brady Fairbanks (Bena, Minn.) and Seth Haake (Eden Prairie, Minn.) each netted 12 points for the Beavers in the win. Fairbanks was 3-of-5 in the contest while Haake went 4-of-8 from the field. James Gibson (Miami, Fla.) and Fairbanks each recorded four steals to lead the Beavers on the defensive end of the floor.

The Lumberjacks were led by Jordan Arneson who scored a game-high 25 points including 6-of-7 triples. Ryan Cannata recorded 11 points and Michael Mackey was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and totaled six points. Zeb Woiak added nine points while Max Lesatz and Cannata led the Lumberjacks on the glass with four rebounds apiece.

From the opening tip BSU quickly asserted itself as Patrick Cassidy (St. Paul, Minn.) opened the scoring with a pair of free-throws and Fairbanks knocked down his lone three pointer of the game on the following possession to put BSU up early, 5-0.

The Beavers would extend that lead to as large as 12 points in the first half at 23-11 with 7:07 to go in the half on a lay up by Jimmy Johnson (Andover, Minn.), but when the team was only able to manage one field goal during the next 3:53, the Lumberjacks seized the opportunity, knocking down 4-of-5 form the field and were 2-for-3 from the three point line to mount a 15-2 run to take their first lead of the game, 26-25, with just 3:13 left in the half.

Northland pushed its lead to as large as five points at 32-27 at the 1:05 mark of the first half but a jumper and a dunk by Alex Smith (Miami, Fla.) in the final minute of the half brought the Beavers within a one point deficit going into halftime, 32-31.

BSU regained its lead early in the second half as the Beavers went on a 14-2 run in the first 4:09 of the second half to build its lead to 11 points, 45-34. Arron Evans (Minneapolis, Minn.) made both of his three-pointers during the run to help BSU push its lead to its largest of the contest.

Northland did not give up as they continued to whittle away at the BSU lead and was able to cut the Beavers lead to three points with six-minutes remaining in the game and with 4:20 remaining in the contest. With the score at 56-53 in favor of the Beavers with 4:19 left in the game BSU went on a 9-0 run to push its lead to 12 points 65-53 with 1:48 left in the contest. The Beavers were able to hold off the Lumberjack comeback attempts to earn their first victory of the season, 69-59.

The Beavers finished the game 20-of-46 from the field (.435), 3-of-11 (.273) from beyond the arc and out rebounded Northland College 45-21 in the contest.

NC was 18-49 (.367) in the loss and was 6-of-15 (.400) from behind the arc. NC committed 22 turnovers while BSU turned the ball over 19 times in the game.

Bemidji State (1-4; 0-0 NSIC) will travel to the University of Wisconsin-Superior on Tuesday, Nov. 27 for a 7:00 p.m. game with the Yellowjackets from UWS.

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

--beavers--