MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men's Basketball team held a halftime lead and kept things close throughout much of the second half before No. 5/7 MSU Moorhead claimed the 82-74 victory over the Beavers on Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. John Sutherland eclipsed 1,000 career points with the Beavers on the night.
Sutherland led all scorers with 22 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds. He was approaching another triple-double with six assists. Sutherland entered the game needing just 11 points to reach 1,000 during his career with the Beavers.
Dalton Albrecht added 20 points on 9-12 shooting and pulled down six rebounds. Daxton Dayley gave the Beavers three in double-figures in scoring with 10 points.
MSU Moorhead (9-0, 3-0 NSIC) scored the first four points of the game and held the lead over four-plus minutes until Albrecht and Sutherland hit back-to-back layups to push Bemidji State (6-3, 2-1 NSIC) in front at 10-9.
Near the midway point of the opening half, Johnny Tennyson and Daxton Dayley each hit layups to move the Beavers out to their largest lead of the first half at 16-11.
With the game tied at 29 over the final minutes before the break, Albrecht converted a three-point-play and then a layup by Dayley followed to move the lead back out to five. The Dragons tallied the final four points of the half to leave Bemidji State with the 34-33 halftime advantage.
Both teams struggled to pull away early in the second half with the lead changing hands four times over a minute with Sutherland and Albrecht again hitting layups to each put the Beavers ahead during that time.
A three-pointer by Brayden Williams and then another triple by Colin Schaefer kept the deficit at two. After Albrecht and Schaefer hit back-to-back layups to keep the deficit at four, the Dragons started to pull away with a 6-0 run to stretch the lead into double-digits at 60-50 with 8:55 to play.
BSU made one last push with a three-pointer by Dayley and three-point-play by Albrecht had the Beavers within six, but there wasn't enough time to make a full comeback with the Dragons claiming the 82-74 victory.
Bemidji State connected on 33-68 (48.5) from the field, 6-19 (31.6) from three and 2-3 (66.7) at the foul line. MSU Moorhead went 27-66 (40.9) from the field, 10-26 (38.5) from three and 18-24 (75) at the foul line. BSU held a strong 50-28 advantage on points in the paint.
The last three meetings between the teams have all been close. Going back to the second meeting last year during the regular season, BSU won by a point, then MSU Moorhead won by a point in the NSIC Tournament before tonight's eight-point decision.
Bemidji State will now travel to Aberdeen to face Northern State on Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. The Wolves held off St. Cloud State for the 83-77 win on Friday night.
For more information on the Bemidji State Men's Basketball program, follow the Beavers on X (@BSUBeaversMBB). Like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) and follow them on Instagram (@BSUBeaversMBB).
Nestled in Northern Minnesota's wooded region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, BSU sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men's hockey membership in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and women's hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
