BEMIDJI, Minn.- Freshman Patrick Cassidy’s (Fr., F, St. Paul, Minn.) career night proved to be just enough as it took the Beavers two overtimes to defeat Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Minnesota, Crookston at the BSU Gymnasium Saturday by a score of 68-67.

Cassidy finished the night with career highs in both points and rebounds as he netted 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his first career double-double in the victory. The Beavers had three players in double figures with Arron Evans (Sr., G, Minneapolis, Minn.) scoring a team high 16 points and chipped in a career high nine rebounds. Junior Alex Smith (Jr., F/C, Miami, Fla.) scored 12 for the Beavers and tied a career high in blocks with five.

The Golden Eagles Delano Robinson scored a game high 19 points while Joey Kollar was the only other Minnesota, Crookston player in double figures with 11.

Both teams battled back and forth in the first half with the Beavers heading to the locker room with a three point lead at 30-27. Minnesota, Crookston fought its way back into the game in the second half as they tied up the ball game for the first time since the 16:09 mark of the first half at 39-39 on a layup by Akeem Cubie. The Golden Eagles never gained a lead though as the Beavers had pushed its lead back up to eight with the score being 53-45 with 4:42 remaining in the game.

With 2:05 remaining the Golden Eagles Bryce Cummings sank two from the charity stripe to cut the Beaver lead down to one at 55-54. Smith went to the line at the 1:19 mark for the Beavers and hit one of his two free throws to give the Beavers a 56-54 lead. Minnesota Crookston’s Robinson rebounded Smith’s missed jumper with :13 seconds remaining and went coast to coast to hit the game tying layup with five seconds remaining, putting the score at 56-56 and sending the game into overtime.

In the fist overtime both teams were able to add four points to their score as Evans scored all four of the Beavers points and Robinson sank three cruical free throw shots on a fould behind the arc by Cassidy.

The second overtime saw the Beavers start out strong as Cassidy hit a three pointer 23 seconds in and after a layup by the Golden Eagles Matt Pelzer went 1-for-2 at the line to extend the Beavers lead to 64-62 with 3:16 remaining. Guard Kyle Scott’s (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) layup at the 2:11 mark gave the Beavers a four point lead at 66-62.

The Golden Eagles were not done however as with 22 seconds remaining Bryce Cummings hit three of his nine points on the night to cut the lead back down to one. An immedate foul by Robinson put Andre Bell (Sr., G, Chicago, Ill.) at the line for two cruical free throws. Bell answered by hitting both free throws to put the score at 68-65. Minnesota, Crookston could not answer as Joey Kollar and Robinson missed three pointers and Cubie hit a layup as time expired to make the final 68-67.

The Bemidji State win moves the all time series with the Golden Eagles to 32-11 and is the ninth straight victory by the Beavers.

With the win the Beavers record moves to (5-9; 2-3 NSIC) on the season and is the second straight victory for the team. While Minnesota, Crookston falls to (4-10; 1-4 NSIC).

The Beavers will return to action next weekend as they play host to Northern State on Friday and the University of Mary on Saturday in two key NSIC matchups. Both games are scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.

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

--Beavers--