DULUTH, MINN. – The Bemidji State University Men's Basketball team dropped its final game of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season 87-53 to the University of Minnesota, Duluth Saturday afternoon on the road. The Beavers had their lowest shooting performance of the season at 30.5% and shot only 13.3% in the first half.
 
Bemidji State ends the season as the fourth seed in the NSIC North Division with a record of 18-10 overall and 13-9 in the conference, while Minnesota Duluth finishes third in the division at 20-8 overall and 16-6 in the NSIC. The Beavers will host the fifth seed of the NSIC South Division in Augustana.
 
BSU struggled in the first half amounting 11 points, going 4-for-30 from the field, 2-for-16 from three and 1-for-6 at the line. The Beavers were down early and were unable to make up ground on the Bulldogs. The second half the Beavers found their rhythm shooting 48.3% totaling 42 points, but the 34-point deficit was too much to overcome.  
 
Dalton Albrecht started the scoring for the Beavers just over two minutes in when he connected on a triple. Minnesota Duluth then went on a 17-0 run over the next five-plus minutes to push the lead out to 19 at 22-3. A three-pointer by Mohamed Kone near the midway point of the half cut the deficit back to 16, but that would be as close as Bemidji State would get the rest of the opening half. The Bulldogs outscored the Beavers by 18 the remainder of the half to take a 45-11 lead into the locker rooms.
 
Despite the strong second half with 42 points, the Beavers were only to cut the lead down to 32 a couple of times near the midway point of the half as the Bulldogs matched BSU scoring 42 points over the final 20 minutes.
  
The Beavers' leading scorers came off the bench in Jayce Lowman and Johnny Tennyson both breaking into double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. All of Lowman's points came from the long ball going 4-for-6 from deep while Tennyson found success all over the court going 3-for-5 from the field, 1-for-3 from three and 3-for-4 at the free throw line. Albrecht and Kone were the leading scorers of the starters with eight points apiece and RJ Smith rounded out the top-five with seven points.
 
The Bulldogs came away with nine more boards than the Beavers at 48-39. BSU only grabbed three offensive rebounds all coming from John Sutherland. Smith finished as the team leader with eight rebounds. Kone, Sutherland and Tennyson all finished with five. In nine minutes, Tate Olson corralled four rebounds, fifth best for Bemidji State. 
        
Bemidji State will continue into the post season on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in the BSU Gymnasium. The Beavers will host the fifth seed of the NSIC South Division in Augustana.
 
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).