BEMIDJI, Minn. – Right from the start, the Bemidji State University Men's Basketball team came out shooting. The Beavers connected on 10 three-pointers alone in the first half and made over 60 percent from the field to cruise to the 99-81 win over St. Cloud State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play Thursday night inside the BSU Gym.

The starting five couldn't have played much better from a scoring standpoint. RJ Smith and John Sutherland each tied for the game-high with 21 points. Dalton Albrecht added 18 points and both Mohamed Kone and Brayden Williams chipped in 15 points apiece. The starting five combined for 90 points and went 31-51 from the field, 12-19 from three and 16-20 at the foul line.

Bemidji State finished making 34-56 (60.7) from the field, 15-23 (65.2) from three and 16-20 (80) at the foul line. The 60.7 percent from the field is the second-best shooting percentage of the season, while the 65.2 percent from three-point range is a new season-high. BSU improves to 15-0 win they make at least 50 percent from the field and are 9-2 when they make at least 10 three-pointers.

The Beavers (18-9, 13-8 NSIC) came out firing jumping out to the 5-0 lead just over a minute in with Albrecht hitting a jumper and a long by from Smith. After St. Cloud State (9-17, 6-15 NSIC) scored the next four points to get to within one, the hot shooting started for BSU.

Sutherland hit a pair of layups and then another long ball from Smith capped a quick 7-0 run that had the Beavers looking at the 12-4 lead at the 15:32 mark of the opening half. The Huskies didn't go away quietly.

After fighting back to tie the game at 20 near the midway point of the half, it was time for Kone to get loose from beyond the arc. He sunk a pair of triples to push the lead to six in a 34-second span. Then another long ball barrage from Smith and Williams stretched the lead to 10 at 36-26 with 5:48 to play before the break.

The Beavers had the lead out to 13 a couple of times before a near half-court shot by Williams ended the opening 20 minutes in style sending BSU into the locker rooms with the 51-40 lead.

It was near lights out shooting over the first 20 minutes for the Beavers. BSU went 19-27 (70.4) from the field and 10-13 (76.9) from three-point range. Smith was on fire making 6-6 from the field and 3-3 from downtown in the opening half.

The momentum carried right into the second half. Albrecht hit a layup just 27 seconds in and then Kone added a transition layup a minute later to push the lead out to 15. After the Huskies had the deficit back to 12, the Beavers ramped up the pressure even more to put the game out of reach.

Johnny Tennyson continued the hot shooting from distance when he connected nearly seven minutes into the second half and after Albrecht sunk a triple, Smith hit two from the line to push the lead to 20 at 74-54 near the midway point of the half.

The lead got as high as 23 a few minutes later a jumper by Kone at the 8:20 mark that left BSU in firm control at 80-57. SCSU held a slight edge down the stretch in scoring, but it wasn't nearly enough to make a comeback as the Beavers rolled to the 99-81 victory.

Smith finished 7-7 from the field, 3-3 from three and 4-4 from the foul line to finish his perfect night from the field on his way to tying for a game-high 21 points. He also added six rebounds and two steals. Sutherland tied for the game-high with his 21 points, making 7-15 from the field and 7-9 at the foul line. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists. Albrecht went 6-12 from the field, 3-4 from three and 3-5 from the line for his 18 points. He added six rebounds and four assists. Kone made 6-10 from the field, 3-6 from three on his way to 15 points. He pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and tied for the team-high in assists with five. Williams also reached 15 points going 5-7 from the field, 3-5 from three and 2-2 at the foul line. He added five rebounds and tied Kone for the team-high in assists with five.

The 18 wins this season is the most for the Beavers since going 18-9 during the 2013-14 season. BSU is now 11-3 at home this year and have won three-straight in Bemidji against St. Cloud State.

Despite the win, Minnesota Duluth picked up the road victory at Minnesota Crookston tonight which means the Beavers will be locked in as the fourth seed for the upcoming NSIC Tournament. BSU will host the first round game against the fifth-seed from the NSIC South Division this coming Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside the BSU Gym. The Beavers won't find out who they will play until Saturday's games conclude.

Before hosting the conference tournament game, Bemidji State will play at Minnesota Duluth on Saturday with tipoff set for 1 p.m. The Bulldogs, behind a big second half, cruised to the 109-69 road victory at Minnesota Crookston on Thursday night.

For more information on the Bemidji State Men's basketball program, follow the Beavers on Twitter (@BSUBeavers), like them on Facebook (facebook.com/BSUBeavers) or sign up for the TXTUpdates from BSUBeavers.com text-messaging system through the "Multimedia" pull down menu on the main page of BSUBeavers.com.
 
Located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, Bemidji State University 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).