ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Bemidji State University Men's Basketball team fought back to tie on five different occasions, but weren't able to overtake Concordia-St. Paul as the Golden Bears led wire-to-wire claiming the 92-84 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference win Friday night inside Gangelhoff Center.
Concordia-St. Paul (9-10, 4-9 NSIC) held off big games from John Sutherland and Dalton Albrecht, as the duo each recorded a double-double. Sutherland went for 28 points and 12 rebounds, while Albrecht added 24 points and 11 rebounds. Brayden Williams returned to the lineup and added 10 points and nine assists.
The Golden Bears surged out to the 10-2 lead backed by eight points from Ben Kopetzki. An Albrecht three and jumper by BJ Davis had the Beavers (10-9, 6-7 NSIC) back to within three at 12-9 four minutes in.
It was a strong opening half for Concordia-St. Paul as they moved out to the 30-15 lead near the midway point. BSU answered with an 8-0 run with Sutherland hitting a hook shot before Daxton Dayley and John Pecarich hit back-to-back three-pointers to trim the deficit to seven.
Sutherland took over down the stretch before the half with a layup and then a floating jump shot left BSU down just one at 44-43. Concordia-St. Paul held on to the leading holding the 49-46 advantage at halftime.
BSU tied the game two minutes into the second half when Tate Olson hit a three-pointer for 53-all. The Beavers tied the game two more times over the next few minutes on a pair of free throws by Albrecht and then again at 57-all on an alley-oop layup by Sutherland.
With 14:24 to play, BSU knotted the game up one more time at 61 on a hook shot by Sutherland. CSP answered with a 5-0 run to take the 66-61 lead. BSU pulled back to within four on an Albrecht jumper and then a triple by Pecarich, but each time the Beavers tried to trim into the deficit more, the Golden Bears had the answer.
Concordia-St. Paul pushed the lead into double-digits at 82-72 with seven minutes to play. Sutherland continued his big scoring night pulling BSU back to within five with 4:33 to play on another jumper.
CSP closed the game on an 8-5 run to hold off the Beavers to claim the 92-84 victory.
Bemidji State went 34-68 (50) from the field, 8-20 (40) from three and 8-12 (66.7) at the foul line. Concordia-St. Paul went 31-64 (48.4) from the field, 13-33 (39.4) from three and 17-21 (81) at the foul line. The Beavers held the edge in second chance points (12-10) and points in the paint (48-28).
Bemidji State will play at Minnesota Duluth on Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs held off Minnesota Crookston 72-62 on Friday.
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).
