WINONA, Minn. (McCown Gymnasium) -– Led by a 25-point, 14-rebound effort from All-American John Smith, the No. 3 Winona State University Warriors extended its winning streak to 14 games with a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win over Bemidji State Saturday at the McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minn.

The Warriors out shot the Beavers by ten percentage points shooting 41.5 percent from the field (27-65) and 45.0 percent from behind the arc (.450) as the Beavers shot just 31.1 percent (19-61) from the field and 3-of-16 from the three point arc (.188).

In addition to Smith’s double-double, two other players recorded double digit scoring totals and nine players got in the scoring column.

David Johnson netted 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, 2-of-5 from behind the arc while Josh Korth added 10 points in 18 minutes on 3-of-6 shooting, 2-of-3 from three point land. Jonte Flowers led all players with seven assists.

Sergej Baskow (So., C, Ludwigsburg, Germany) led the Beavers in scoring for the fourth time this season with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Brady Fairbanks (Fr., F, Bena, Minn.) and Arron Evans (Sr., G, Minneapolis, Minn.) each added eight points. Baskow and Patrick Cassidy (Fr., F, St. Paul, Minn.) grabbed a team high six rebounds while Tyler Wruck (Fr, F, Foley, Minn.) dished out a career-high three assists.

Bemidji State held tough with the No. 3 team in the nation for the first 10-minutes of the game as the Beavers found themselves down by just four points (17-13) with 9:56 remaining in the first half. The Warriors showed why they are ranked No. 3 in the nation during the final 10-minutes of the half as they outscored BSU 22-8 to push its lead to 39-21 at the break.

The Warriors shot 41.2 percent from the field in the half (14-34) and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line (.778) while the Beavers shot just 32.1 percent from the field (9-28) and while connecting on just 1-of-2 (.500) free throw attempts.

WSU came out of the break picking up right were they left off pushing its lead to 26 points (54-28) in the first 5:37 seconds of the second half. BSU cut the Warrior lead to 17 points (56-39) with a 11-2 run lead by six points by Baskow, but the Warriors proved to be just to much for the young Beaver squad as they closed out the game on a 22-9 run and powered through to an 78-48 victory.

The Beavers now trail WSU 77-66 in the all-time series and have dropped the last four meetings to the Warriors.

Bemidji State (5-13; 2-7 NSIC) will be in action next weekend as the Beavers will start its second swing through conference play at Wayne State College and Southwest Minnesota State. The Beavers will play WSC on Friday, Jan. 25 and SMSU on Saturday, Jan. 26. Both games are slated for an 8:00 p.m. start.

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

--beavers--