SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The fourth-seed Bemidji State University Men's Basketball team's season came to an abrupt end in the semifinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament 78-77 to the two-seed in the north division in Minnesota State University, Moorhead on a buzz beater. Lorenzo McGhee from MSU Moorhead knocked down the winning shot as time expired on a long two-pointer from the wing.
The Beavers end their season with a record of 20-11 overall, becoming just the third team in program history to reach 20 victories.
The Beavers scored on their first three possessions with driving layups by RJ Smith, John Sutherland and Johnny Tennyson to move out to the 6-3 lead. In the first five minutes both teams kept trading baskets with no team able to gain any separation, until MSU Moorhead (24-6) went on a five-point run to go up 14-10 nearly six minutes in. Mohamed Kone answered with a jumper to help ignite a 6-0 run to push Bemidji State back in front. Dalton Albrecht added two from the line and Sutherland closed the run with a layup at the 12:20 mark.
With the game tied at 18, the Beavers were held scoreless for three minutes resulting in MSUM going on a 10-0 run. Tennyson got Bemidji State back on the board with the team's first made three-point field goal with seven minutes to play in the half to leave MSUM ahead at 28-21. The Dragons extended their lead to 13 points in the closing minutes before Tennyson, just like in the previous two games, sunk another triple before the half to leave MSUM with the 40-30 lead after 20 minutes.
Bemidji State struggled from the behind the arc in the opening half only making 2-of-11 with both coming from Tennyson, while the Dragons had no problem from deep with six made triples. Sutherland was the leading scorer in the first half with 10 points for BSU with Kone and Tennyson behind him with eight. Albrecht made an impact on the boards with six rebounds, five coming in the first 10 minutes. Dane Zimmer managed to grab nine rebounds in the first half for MSUM and Jacob Beeninga scored 11 points.
The second half started the same as the first with both teams trading baskets before MSU Moorhead started to string together scoring possessions. The Dragons pushed the lead out to 14, 48-34, their largest of the night with 16:57 to play in the game.
The Beavers quickly cut into the lead and pulled to within six just over three minutes later when Sutherland connected on a jumper. Bemidji State remained cold from three with many attempts falling just short giving MSUM chances to increase the lead. After the Dragons had the lead back into double-digits at 57-47 near the midway point of the half, BSU had an answer. Tennyson drilled another three-pointer and Sutherland a jumper as the Beavers ripped off a 5-0 spurt in 35 seconds to trim the deficit to five. Bemidji State continued to ramp up the defense forcing several big stops which led to the offense getting heated up. Still down five, Kone took over hitting a jumper and then a three-pointer tied the game at 59 with 6:31 to play.
With under five minutes to play, a pair of Kone free throws gave BSU their first lead since the opening half at 65-63. Beeninga took the lead back with four points in a row, but Tennyson banked in his fifth three-pointer and Kone extended the lead to four with another triple with under two minutes to play. With 34 seconds left the Beavers were up one with the ball before Sutherland was put to the line with 22 seconds where he made both from the stripe.
Before McGhee hit his heroic jumper to win the game, he hit two from the line with 17 seconds to play to make it a one-point contest. After the Beavers missed a free throw on the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds to play, the Dragons had the last look to win the game. With Bemidji State playing tight defense, MSU Moorhead eventually gave the ball back to McGhee with time winding down and he connected on a difficult long two-pointer from the wing to send the Dragons to the 78-77 victory.
Sutherland, like most of the season, led the Beavers in points fitting for the final game of the season totaling 26 points, shooting 12-for-19 from the field. Kone was right behind him with 22 points making two three-pointers in his final collegiate game. In Tennyson's first collegiate start he followed up his amazing quarterfinal performance with 17 points, 15 coming from the deep ball. Sutherland and Smith both tallied four assists tying for the most in the game. Smith also added four points and four rebounds in his final collegiate game.
The Beavers grabbed 29 rebounds, five less than the Dragons. Albrecht led BSU with a season-high 10 rebounds but fell two points shy of a double-double. Sutherland had a big night on the boards as well with eight rebounds and Smith rounded out the top-three with four. Sutherland and Tennyson recorded blocks in the final game. Zimmer from MSUM led both teams with 15 rebounds and earned a double-double with 12 points.
After making just 2-of-11 from deep in the first half, Bemidji State heated up from deep in the final 20 minutes making 5-of-8. The Beavers also went 18-of-30 (60%) from the field in the second half, while holding MSU Moorhead to just 11-of-28 (39.29%) from the field and 2-of-11 (18.18%) from three.
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).
