PointGuard

Pepper Thorlakson, KFOG—excerpts of radio play-by-play Following two disappointing losses, North Dakota State enters tonight’s game in tenuous position. Should they lose a 3rd straight game tonight, they will drop yet another notch in the league since South Dakota is just a half-game behind them going into this game. The Coyotes are led offensively by C Roland Mullahon who is averaging 16.8 ppg. ********** Kevin Brinker sinks both free throws to give the Bison an 11-0 lead with 14:24 to play in the half. ********** Erik Pettway steps in front of Hall and steals the ball. A great outlet pass to Yeaton who drives up court and lays it in to score South Dakota’s first points and cut the lead to 13-2. The Bison inbound the ball with 13:21 to go in the half. ********** As the Bison press, Jones takes the inbound pass for the Coyotes, his pass is picked off by Haywood who tosses a sweet ally-oop pass to Kelsey Brown who jams it down. Brown was fouled on the shot. He drops in the free throw to give the Bison a 16-5 lead. ********** The Bison work the ball around, Dickerson takes the pass down low. He flips it over to Hall who puts up a 10 foot jumper that swishes through the silk to put North Dakota State ahead 25-11 with 6-1/2 minutes left in the half. ********** The buzzer sounds. The score at the half, North Dakota State-29, South Dakota-19. ********** Both teams his under 40% of their field goal attempts in the first half, but the Bison forced the Coyotes to turn the ball over 14 times while NDSU had just 6 turnovers. PF James Hall led the scoring for the Bison with 10 points. ********** Another whistle against the Bison. That’s 4 in the first 81 seconds of the 2nd half. Coach Bolton is all over the refs. But Mulholland will go to the line for the Pioneers. He drops in both shots. ********** Another foul on the Bison. Webb hits both shots to cut the lead to 29-23 with 18:10 to go in the game. That’s 5 fouls in less than 2 minutes. ********** James Hall picks up his 3rd foul. 6 team fouls with 17:22 to go. Bolton is yelling at the refs, but they don’t tag him with a technical. ********** Another foul! 7 now with 16:24 to go so the Coyotes are already in the bonus. Mulholland returns the line. He makes the first but misses the second to make the score 29-24. ********** That’s the 7th team foul against the Coyotes. Kelsey Brown goes to the line for a one-and-one. With 10:44 remaining, he converts both shots to give the Bison a 45-35 lead. ********** Miller drives and pulls up. His shot is off the rim, but Hall grabs the rebound and stuffs it in to make it 47-35. ********** The refs continue to wet their whistles. That puts Colin Shannon on the line. He makes both shots to make it 59-50 with 4:55 to go. ********** With just over a minute to play, South Dakota is forced to foul. Colin Shannon toes the line. He sinks the first, and now the 2nd drops as well making it 68-59. ********** The Coyotes cut the lead to 5 points. Can the Bison hold them off? ********** South Dakota’s last minute effort comes up short and the Bison come away with a 72-67 victory on the road. ********** For North Dakota State, PF James Hall scored 14 and reserve SG Kelsey Brown added 10. PG Colin Shannon scored 8, but also had 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. The win keeps the Bison in 5th place in the Summit League with an 8-7 record and one game to play. ********** PT: We have PG Colin Shannon with us. Colin, this was a big turn-around for team tonight. What was the difference from the previous two games? CS: We were just tired of losing and embarrassed by our play lately. So I think the team pulled together to gain and maintain control of this game from the very beginning. James Hall was big for us early. Then when the refs teamed up against us early in the 2nd half, we never let it get us down. In fact, it made us dig deeper. We got scoring from throughout the lineup. Each time the Coyotes made a run, we were able to turn them back because no matter who was on the court for us, we all were intent on ensuring we won this game. PT: What do you think of your chances in the Summit League tournament? CS: We have to lock down our final game at home before thinking about the league tournament. But We know we can beat any team in the conference. There is no prohibitive favorite this year, so we just have to focus on each game we play and play together as a team like we did tonight. PT: The team has made significant improvement this year. What do you attribute the difference to? CS: Foremost, Coach Bolton has brought a new approach and attitude. Coach demands 100% effort. After our last two games, he lit a fire under us. My first 3 years here were kinda tough since we were the doormats each year. But it’s been fun playing and winning this year. I think that success breeds success so while I will be gone next year, I fully expect this team to make further advances next season. Even though we’re losing 3 starters, we’ve had good support off the bench and those guys are ready to step in next year. It was nice seeing Kelsey Brown, a freshman who is still getting used to Division I college ball, come in and play such a good game off the bench tonight. PT: Thank Colin and good luck the rest of the season.Top

Top“Unofficial NorDakStater”—a blog by Ron Slocum The Bison basketballers up-and-down season marched on last night when they hosted the Denver Pioneers. With reserve PF Jaron Dickerson shelved the rest of the season with a torn ACL, the team’s weak interior was even more stretched. 1st Assistant Coach Jason Jones remarked, “We might resort to using Michael Daniels to sub at PF. While not carrying the bulk we’d like for the position, he has the height and has been shooting well in his reserve role at SF this season.” A challenge for the Bison in the game was to try to limit SG Derrick Williams, who has been scoring 16.4 ppg thus far this season. The Bison hit just 32% of their first half shots plus turned the ball over 10 times allowing the Pioneers to take a 24-19 lead to the locker room. Early in the 2nd half, the Bison hit 3 straight 3 pointers to jump ahead 33-28. But the Pioneers then scored the next 10 points. After the Bison fell behind by as much as 8 points, SF Brandon Tracy hit a 3 with just under 2 minutes to play that cut the Pioneers’ lead to 48-46. But NDSU was unable to score again and dropped a critical home game by the score of 53-46. An anemic offense cost the Bison again. They only were able to drop in 31% of their shots. There were no offensive stars for the Bison, but SF Brandon Tracy led their scoring with 12 points. But another reason for the defeat was that NDSU had 19 turnovers compared to Denver’s 10. Derrick Williams led Denver’s scoring with 15 points. The loss dropped NDSU’s season record to 13-12 and their league record to 7-7. They now have dropped to 5th place in the Summit League. After 10 straight victories at home, tonight was the first home loss for the Bison this season.

Fargo Forum newspaper Last night the NDSU Bison travelled to Brookings, SD to take on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, a team trailing the Bison by ½ game in the Summit League. A rabid ‘Rabbit crowd was on hand to root on the home team. The Bison played dispiritedly during throughout the entire first half, committing 14 turnovers and hitting just 39% of their shots. That allowed the Jackrabbits to build a 41-23 halftime advantage. South Dakota State’s SF Darrell Toton burned the Bison with 16 points in the half. The Jackrabbits held the Bison off in the 2nd half and rolled to a 73-52 lopsided victory which drops the Bison into 4th place in the Summit League. SF Brandon Tracy led the anemic Bison attack with just 10 points. For South Dakota State, the two starting guards, Chris Criddle and Darrell Toton, combined for 42 points. Following the game, Coach Tad Bolton said, “We can’t let the crowd take us out of games on the road. It’s totally unacceptable. We just never got our offense in gear and let the Jackrabbits steadily draw away in a game in which we should have challenged them.”

WDAY TV Late Night News Sports Report Tonight the North Dakota State Bison basketball team hosted the IPFW Mastadons to try to claw their way into a tie for 2nd place with the Mastadons in the Summit League. The Bison scored the first 10 points of the game with aggressive defensive play. But IPFW roared back to score 12 unanswered points and take the lead. The lead shifted back and forth but IPFW took over at the end of the first half to carve out a 42-36 advantage. 15 team fouls against the Bison set the Mastadons where they hit 18 free throws, 11 more than North Dakota State. SF Brandon Tracy scored 8 first half points. In the second half, the Bison started off quickly again and regained the lead at 45-44 after just 3 minutes of play. Midway through the 2nd half, NDSU led 58-53. The Bison gradually increased their lead to win it 75-66 thus moving up into a 2nd place tie in the Summit League. PG Colin Shannon led their scoring with 12 points and SF Brandon Tracy added 10 while PG Cliff Evans and PF Evan Williams came off the bench to each score 9 points. Twelve players scored for the Bison. IPFW was led by C LyRyan Canty who scored 19 and pulled down 8 rebounds.

“Unofficial NorDakStater”—a blog by Ron Slocum Following a big win earlier this week, North Dakota State’s basketball team took to the road to take on the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Coming into the game, the Mavericks were in last place in the Summit League with a 3-7 record while the Bison owned a 6-4 league record. For the season, the Mavericks were 6-15, but 5 of their 6 wins came at home. C Ian Leatherman (13.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.4 spg, and 0.7 bpg) and SF Albert Callahan (12.2 ppg and 5.0 rpg) had led the Nebraska-Omaha squad throughout the season. NDSU’s SF Brandon Tracy strained his wrist so had missed practice this week, but suited up for the game even though his condition is listed as less than 100%. The Bison had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop early in the first half while the Mavericks hit their shots and held a small lead until midway through the half. NDSU clawed their way back into the game and took a small lead, but then their shooting went flat again dropping them into a 35-28 halftime deficit. PF Evan Williams came off the bench to infuse life in the middle portion of the half. He led all scorers with 11 points. The Mavericks came out hot in the 2nd half and opened a 20 point lead with 14-1/2 minutes to play. The Bison cut the lead to 9 points but couldn’t get closer and ended up losing 85-68. Nebraska-Omaha shredded the Bison defense by hitting 67% of their FG attempts and 64% of their 3’s. Two subs led the Bison scoring. PF Evan Williams knocked down 22 points and SF Michael Daniels added 11. The loss dropped NDSU into 4th place in the Summit League with a 6-5 record.

Pepper Thorlakson, KFOG—excerpts of radio play-by-play Bison Fans! Welcome to tonight’s Bison game against the Western Illinois Leathernecks. The floundering NDSU team, now on a 2 game losing streak and mired in the middle of the Summit League standings, takes on a team that has a 7 game win streak and sits on the.....wait for it....summit....of the Summit League standings. Can the Bison team turn things around? This will be a big test for them. It looks like Coach Tad Bolton is trying to shake the team up a bit. He’s stuck with a set starting lineup throughout the season, but tonight, he has replaced James Hall with Evan Williams at PF in an attempt to infuse more offense early. But the tradeoff is the loss of Halls’ rebounding prowess. For the Leathernecks, they’re led offensively by SG Stevie Magliore. But Magliore is nursing an injured wrist that has kept him out of the past two games. So we’ll see if his shooting is hampered by the injury. If it is, no worry for Western Illinois, because PG Dante Porte and SF Calvin Thomas have shown the ability to take up the slack and put points on the scoreboard. ********** PG Colin Shannon tosses the ball away again. The Bison have turned the ball over 3 of their first 4 possessions in this game. ********** Wow. Both teams are tight. 9 total turnovers in the first 4-1/2 minutes. The score remains 4-4. The refs give the ball over to North Dakota State. ********** Brandon Tracy knocks down another 3 to give him 8 points and put the Bison ahead 17-12 with 10-1/2 minutes to play in the first half. ********** Shannon cuts around the screen and puts up a 14-foot jumper that drops through the net to put North Dakota State up 25-15 with 7:34 on the clock. ********** Magliore’s long 3 cuts the lead to 7. That’s 8 points for Magliore, so it looks like he’s shaken off the impact of his injured wrist. ********** Daniels fouls James Hall under the basket. That’s the 7th foul on the Leathernecks. Hall goes to the line for a one-and-one. He drops through his first free throw. And now his second is good also. That makes it 31-22 in favor of the Bison with 3:38 to go in the half. ********** Shannon gets the ball back on the pick and roll and darts into the lane. He muscles up a shot and is fouled. Shannon’s first shot is off the mark. He drills the second free throw to make the score NDSU-32, Western Illinois-24. The Leathernecks inbound the ball with 53 seconds on the clock. ********** Tracy fires up a 3 as the buzzer sounds and it’s GOOD! The puts the Bison on top 35-26 at the half. NDSU achieved this by hitting 56% of their FG attempts compared to the Leathernecks’ 35% shooting. Brandon Tracy leads all scorers with 11 points and has yet to miss a shot. ********** The Bison have come out stone-cold in the 2nd half and with 14:39 to go, there’s a timeout. Western Illinois have closed the gap to 39-34. ********** Tracy gets around his man and drives to the hoop. He dunks it to make it 48-39 in favor of the Bison with 12 minutes left in the game. That’s 16 points for Tracy. ********** Shannon’s sinks a long 3 pointer to give the Bison a 10-point lead with 7 minutes to go. Shannon now has 15 points. ********** James Hall gets the ball inside, he turns and pushes his way toward the basket, pulling back to put up a 5 foot shot over the defender. It’s in and he was fouled on the shot. Hall goes to the line and completes the 3-point play to make the score 62-49. ********** Magliore gets free for a 3. Swish! That cuts the lead to 4 points with 1:38 to play. ********** The buzzer sounds. NDSU scores a 74-66 victory! The win moves them into a 2nd place tie just a game behind Western Illinois. ********** For the Bison, PG Colin Shannon scored 21 points and SF Brandon Tracy hit every shot he took to score 20 points. PF James Hall added 9. While SG Kevin Brinker was held scoreless, he dished out 5 assists, pulled down 7 rebounds, and had 2 steals and a block. The Leathernecks’ PF Bryan Daniels scored 17 points and hauled in 14 rebounds.

Big Benbo Jamanian, KNDU Radio Hey Bison Fans! This is Big Benbo Jamanian here to talk about the Bison’s game against Oral Roberts earlier this evening. You probably already know the final score which was Oral Roberts 65, North Dakota State 56. Oral Roberts hit 4 of their first 5 shots to take a small lead early and they due to continued weak defense by the Bison, expanded their lead to 11 points midway through the first half. At the end of the half, the Bison trailed 43-31. 17 fouls had been called against to the Bison while just 6 were called on the Golden Eagles. That allowed Oral Roberts to take 16 more free throws and score 13 more points from the line that the Bison. SF Brandon Tracy and SG Kevin Brinker combined for 16 points, but both of those starters were saddled with 3 personal fouls. Oral Roberts SG Roland Hayes led all scorers with 11 points. In the 2nd half, the Bison defense gelled, but their offense never caught fire. While they cut the lead to 6 points twice, they were unable to get close enough to put a fear into the Golden Eagles. Oral Roberts went on to win by 9 points while getting 19 more free throw attempts and 14 more points at the line. NDSU was unable to gain control inside, being both outscored and outrebounded by Oral Roberts’ interior players. The only Bison player to score in double figures was SG Kevin Brinker with 12 points. The loss dropped the Bison record to 11-9 and their league record to 5-4 as they slipped into a 3rd place tie, 2 games behind Western Illinois. The team needs to regroup and turn the momentum around soon.

Big Benbo Jamanian, KNDU Radio Hey Bison Fans! This is Big Benbo Jamanian with your Wednesday night sports news. You know I came to school here from Indiana, the HOME of basketball. My friends from back home gave me one devil of a time coming to a football school. But FINALLY in my junior year here, I’m getting the sense that our new coach and this team are moving the basketball program here in the right direction. I know that following our team’s disappointing performance against IUPUI earlier this week, that you might be asking what the heck I’m talking about. But the Bison basketballers have shown glimpses of knowing what they are doing on the court, blending their skills well, and having the fire to inspire. Tomorrow they take on the Golden Eagles from Oral Roberts University. The Golden Eagles have a sub-.500 record this year, but it’s primarily because they are winless on the road. When playing at home they’re 7-4, so the Bison will have their jobs cut out for them tomorrow night. Oral Roberts scoring comes primarily from the outside, with their two guards and small forward all averaging in double figures. So the Bison can’t allow any of those 3 to break out. I’m hoping the Bison come out thinking they have something to prove after their embarrassing loss at home a few days ago. Kevin Brinker, the Bison starting SG, has been hitting over 50% of this FG attempts, but he needs to put up more shots. I’d also like to see our interior guys take advantage of what appears to be a weaker set of inside opponents when they go up against Oral Roberts. I’ll follow up with you after the Bison finish their game tomorrow night.

TopNDSU News, college newspaper Bison Fall Out of First Place Last night NDSU’s basketball team went on the road to take on last-place IUPUI. The Bison deployed a devastating defense throughout the early stages of the 1st half, allowing them to open an eleven point lead. But in the last 5 minutes of the half, both their defense and offense fell apart letting IUPUI creep back into the game. The Jaguars tied the game with 2 minutes to go in the half. NDSU escaped with a razor-thin 28-27 lead going to the break. But in the 2nd half NDSU’s abysmal shooting together with numerous turnovers led to their undoing. IUPUI pulled away to a carve out a convincing 56-43 victory. That lowered the Bison’s league record to 5-3 and dropped them into 3-way tie for 2nd place. Western Illinois took over first place with their 6th straight win. SF Brandon Tracy (10 points) was the only Bison to score in double figures. He also pulled won 9 rebounds. Following the game, Coach Bolton said, “It was disappointing how we fell behind in the 2nd half. We have to work on consistency and developing a killer instinct. But give the Jaguars credit. They got us out of sync in the 2nd half and continued to apply pressure until the end of the game.”

WVLY TV Tad Bolton’s first season as head coach for the NDSU Bison has been a bit of a roller coaster. After winning 5 of their first 7 games, the team lost their final two pre-conference games to go into Summit League play with a 5-4 record. They then rolled off 3 straight league victories to streak to the top of league standings before dropping 2 of their last 3 games. Their 4-2 record had them tied for 3rd in the Summit League. Tonight, following South Dakota State’s loss earlier in the day, the North Dakota State Bison had a chance to get back on top of the league as they hosted the South Dakota Coyotes. South Dakota came into the game with a 9-7, 4-1 record. The Coyotes’ big center Roland Mullahon anchored the Coyotes, scoring 16.6 ppg. Poor shooting in the first half nearly crippled the Bison. But fouls mounted against the Coyotes, allowing the Bison to gradually build a small lead. At the half, NDSU led 39-35. SF Brandon Tracy led the team offensively at that point with 14 points. NDSU found the scoring touch in the 2nd half. Their lead expanded to 10 with 14:45 remaining. Then with 7:15 to go, the Bison were up by 20. From there they cruised to an 80-65 victory that put them into sole possession of the Summit League lead. On the season they are 11-7 and they are now 5-2 in league play. The Bison finished the game +11 in turnovers. SF Brandon Tracy dropped in 20 points plus had 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block. C/PF Evan Williams tossed in 19 points and SG Kevin Brinker added 14. NDSU held South Dakota's C Roland Mullahon to just 11 points.

Game #3: Kansas Jayhawks at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets One loss by Kansas (7-3) was to Arizona, but their 7 wins have been by lopsided scores. The Jayhawks very much sport a perimeter game with the 3 outside starters averaging a combined 49 ppg. Andy Forbes and Mike Sanchez ae the foundation defensively for Kansas. Georgia Tech (11-1) beat Michigan handily and won the Coaches Classic Tourney. SG Kenny Weisse provides much of the offensive fire power and also plays strong defensively for the Yellow Jackets, but C John Tibbetts is their anchor inside. The only opponent that both teams have faced is Temple and Kansas lost a heart-breaker while Georgia Tech beat the Owls by a narrow margin. Kansas seems to have played a slightly more difficult pre-conference schedule than Georgia Tech. Starters for Kansas: 5-6 Jr PG Brandon Wallace-16.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.3 apg 6-5 Jr SG Ray Jones-14.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 6.0 apg 6-6 Jr SF Andy Forbes-18.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.2 apg 6-7 So PF Mike Sanchez-6.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.0 apg 6-8 Sr C Lionel Morris-6.4 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.6 apg Starters for Georgia Tech: 6-2 Jr PG Brian Wane-6.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.6 apg 6-4 Jr SG Kenny Weisse-26.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.8 apg 6-7 Fr SF Jelani Walton-13.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.8 apg 6-8 Jr PF Darrick Holmes-5.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.5 apg 7-0 So C John Tibbetts-11.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.5 apg Pre-Game Questions: 1. Will Georgia Tech’s big men man-handle the smaller Kansas players? 2. Will the slick guard duo of Brandon Wallace and Ray Jones for Kansas offset the raw scoring power of Georgia Tech’s SG Kenny Weisse? 3. Kansas has been a better shooting team the Georgia Tech...will that be the case in this game? 4. Can Georgia Tech’s ball-control advantage prevail against Kansas? 5. Which of the two starting SF’s will dominate? 1st half highlights: • Kansas used speed and took advantage of Georgia Tech turnovers to build an early 13-3 lead. • At that point Kenny Weisse took over for the Yellowjackets, scoring 11 of their first 13 points to cut the Jayhawks’ lead to 2 points. • But Kansas continued to outplay Georgia Tech to lead 32-21 with 7 minutes left in the half. • 15 fouls in the half called against the Yellowjackets sent Jayhawks’ players to the line 26 times where they scored 10 more points that Georgia Tech. • At the half, Kansas led 53-44 with SG Andy Forbes leading their offensive onslaught with 17 points. Forbes’ substitute, Brad Lee, scored 8 points while playing just 4 minutes. Georgia Tech’s SG Kenny Weisse took high point honors, though, with 18 points and pulled down 6 rebounds. 2nd half highlights: • Georgia Tech rattled the Jayhawks at the beginning of the 2nd half and scored the first 11 points to take a 55-53 lead with 17 minutes to play. • Kansas roared back to re-build a 7-point lead with 13 minutes to go. • Kenny Weisse hit a 3 from the corner to put the Yellow Jackets back on top at 66-65 with 10 minutes left. • As Kansas’ ineptitude increased, Kenny Weisse continued to burn up the basket for Georgia Tech. With 7-1/2 minutes go to, he scored on a 12-foot jumper on which he was fouled. He sunk the free throw to give him 31 points and put the Yellow Jackets up by 6 points. • From that point, Georgia Tech simply ground out their come-from-behind victory with the aid of a technical foul on the frustrated coach for Kansas. Final Score: Georgia Tech-88, Kansas-79. • Georgia Tech won the game on the basis of their stout 2nd half defense which limited the Jayhawks second half shooting to less than 30% and allowed them to score by 26 points in the final 20 minutes. • For the Yellow Jackets SG Kenny Weisse scored 35 points and grabbed 10 rebounds plus blocked 3 shot. SF Jelani Walton added 10 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. • Kansas was led offensively by SG Andy Forbes with 26 points. Sub Brad Lee added 13 points while SF Cedric Whiting scored 12 and PG Brandon Wallace put in 10 points, dished out 8 assists, and picked off 5 rebounds. Top 5 Players: 1. SG Kenny Weisse (GT)-35 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks. 2. SG Andy Forbes (K)-26 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist. 3. PG Brandon Wallace (K)-10 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal. 4. SF Jelani Wallace (GT)-10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block. 5. PF Darrick Holmes (GT)-8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks. Answers to Pre-Game Questions: 1. Georgia controlled the inside, limiting two interior starters to 9 points. The Yellow Jackets scored 26 points in the paint while holding Kansas to just 10 points in the paint. 2. Kansas’ starting guards (Forbes and Wallace) scored 36 points. But Kenny Weisse scored 35 for Georgia Tech. So pretty much a draw. And Weisse’s running mate PG Brian Wane scored 9 to tip the scales in favor or Georgia Tech. 3. Kansas shot well in the first half but poorly in the 2nd half, finishing with just 38% for the entire game. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech hit 50% of their field goal attempts. 4. Both teams had 15 turnovers so Georgia Tech’s pre-game advantage was nullified. 5. Both SF’s played well, but Georgia Tech’s Jelani Wallace played a more complete game.

Pepper Thorlakson, KFOG—excerpts of radio play-by-play Hey, Bison fans! This is Pepper Thorlakson bringing you tonight’s game against the Denver Pioneers. Denver has a 5-10 record and is in 6th place in the Summit League with a 1-3 record. Offensively they are powered by SG Derrick Williams who is averaging 17 points per game. PG Dionsio Williams and SF Reggie Sims are also good scorers from the perimeter, averaging 8.8 and 8.4 ppg respectively. Defensively Denver sports a 3-2 zone so we will see if the Bison are able to crack it. The Bison are nearly back to full-strength with SG Kelsey Brown being ready to play. But SF Michael Daniels is suited up but is unlikely to play to give his tender ankle a little more rest. ********** Trailing 5-0, Matt Haywood picks off an outlet pass. Haywood turns and lofts up a pass for a sweet alley oop by Brandon Tracy! ********** Reggie Sims hits a jumper and is fouled. The Pioneers have now hit 7 of 10 field goals. Sims’ free throw is good putting Denver ahead 18-12 with 11:43 to go in the first half. **********Denver continues their hot shooting as Derrick Williams drops in a tough shot to put them ahead 24-15. ********** Alfred Jeffries scores inside and is fouled by Jaron Dickerson making it 35-20 in favor of Denver. The Bison continue to look flat and asleep on defense. ********** Phew! The half mercifully ends. The Bison trail 42-27 and have played lackadaisically. Denver holds a 13-9 rebounding advantage and has hit 62% of their shots compared to NDSU’s 39% shooting. The lone bright spot of the Bison has been SF Brandon Tracy who scored 13 of their 27 points. For Denver, SF Reggie Simms has 14 and SG Derrick Williams 12. ********** Brandon Tracy hits his second straight 3, but the Bison still are behind by a 53-39 score with 13:31 to go. That’s 19 points for Tracy. ********** Derrick Williams makes both free throws and Denver expands their lead to 62-45 with 9:18 on the clock. ********** The buzzer sounds. NDSU gets lambasted by an 80-62 score. That loss will drop them into a 3rd place tie in the league. ********** Wrapping up, the Bison defense was atrocious tonight, allowing the Pioneers to pour in 61% of their shots. NDSU had 20 turnovers and they were a -3 in rebounds. SF Reggie Simms zapped them for 26 points. For the Bison, SF Brandon Tracy scored 22 and PG Colin Shannon added 11.

NDSU News, college newspaper Bison Take Hop Out of Jackrabbits SF Michael Daniels didn’t suit up for NDSU’s game last night due to his sprained ankle, but SG Kelsey Brown was in uniform. Before the game against South Dakota State, Coach Tad Bolton said, “Kelsey’s knee is better, but we’re going to be cautious and keep him out of action unless we become too short-handed.” After a lackluster pre-conference season, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits won their first 3 Summit League games to sit atop the standings. While not a good-shooting team, the Jackrabbits rebounding had carried them. Turnovers plagued the Bison early, but PF James Hall scored their first 9 points to give them a 2-point lead with 14:19 to go in the first half. The Bison expanded their lead to 20-9 midway through the half. Even though NDSU had 10 turnovers in the first half, they out-rebounded South Dakota State 18-12 and left the court with a 30-22 advantage. PF James Hall led their scoring with 10 points plus had 4 rebounds. The Bison applied a daunting defense in the 2nd half and pulled away steadily building a 58-35 lead with 6 minutes left in the game. Coach Bolton emptied the bench at that point. The Bison finished the game with a 64-45 victory giving them a 10-6, 4-1 record and catapulting them back into a tie for the Summit League lead. Keys to the win were a 39-27 rebounding advantage, holding the Jackrabbits shooting to 32% and limiting South Dakota State’s 3-point shooting to 1 of 18. PF James Hall had a big game with 16 points and 9 rebounds. SF Brandon Tracy added 11 points. After the game, James Hall commented, “The guys were getting the ball to me down inside for some good looks at the basket and scoring early gave me a lot of confidence. Our entire team was pounding the boards tonight. The coaching staff really has been on us the past few days on anticipating, positioning, blocking out, and working hard to pull down rebounds and tonight it paid off.”

Game 2: Michigan Wolverines at Arizona Wildcats Michigan (9-2) enters the game having just scored a big win over Duke. The Wolverines are a high scoring team and good defensively, but have occasional defensive lapses. Arizona (9-0) had a decisive win over #11 Kansas earlier this season. The Wildcats are strong offensively and defensively, but their schedule has been a little easier that Michigan’s. Starting for Michigan: 6-0 Sr PG Tony Crosby-20.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 5.1 apg 6-0 Fr SG Jared Vaughn-10.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.2 apg 6-7 So SF Abe Mueller-7/9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.8 apg 6-8 So PF Damone Owens-6.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg 6-8 Jr C Matt Simon-10.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.7 apg Starting for Arizona: 6-0 Sr PG Ritchie Allison-5.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 8.9 apg 6-6 Fr SG Kejuan McPherson-11.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.4 apg 6-8 Jr SF John Anderson-29.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 apg 6-7 So PF Charles Hoskin-10.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 0.7 apg 6-8 So C Chris Walls-7.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.3 apg Arizona’s John Anderson seems to score at will and he’s a defensive stopper as well with 4.4 bpg. PG Tony Crosby carries the offense for Michigan. Michigan’s defense is strong inside with PF Damone Owens (and his replacement Rashon Daniels) together with C Matt Simon combining to plug up the middle. Pre-game Questions: 1. Michigan’s PG Tony Crosby scores well from all over the court, but can Arizona’s PG Ritchie Allison use his playmaking skills to offset Crosby’s scoring? 2. Can Michigan figure out a way to stop SF John Anderson? 3. Will Arizona’s strong defense throttle the Wolverines? 4. Which freshman SG will outshine the other? 5. Michigan appears to have the better bench, can it offset Arizona’s home court advantage? 1st half highlights: • Michigan shot well and quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but Wolverine turnovers offset their shooting to allow Arizona to grab the lead after 7 minutes of play. • Neither team could pull away though until the last 3 minutes in the first half when Arizona’s shooting went stone cold (dropping their FG% to 29% for the entire half) and Michigan drew away to a 43-33 halftime lead. • SF John Anderson carried the Wildcats with 13 points at the half, but SG Jared Vaughn and reserve center Dana Carr both scored 12 for Michigan. 2nd half highlights: • In less than 5 minutes, the Wildcats had clawed their way back into the game and took a 46-45 lead. • Turnovers and fouls were Michigan’s undoing allowing Arizona to hold onto a small lead. • Falling behind late in the game, Michigan’s attempt to catch up from beyond the arc was a series of misfires. Final Score: Arizona-81, Michigan-69. • While Michigan outscored Arizona by 6 from the field, the Wildcats made 18 more points at the charity stripe. • SF John Anderson played as advertised, scoring 33 points plus dished out 4 assists, hauled down 8 boards, and had 3 steals and 2 blocks. • PG Tony Crosby had an off-night shooting, scoring just 3 points, but had a double-double anyway with 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Top 5 players: 1. SF John Anderson (A)-33 points, 4 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks. 2. SG John Vaughn (M)-20 points, 2 assists, 5 rebounds. 3. C Matt Simon (M)-11 points, 2 assists, 10 rebounds, 1 block. 4. PG Tony Crosby (M)-3 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals. 5. PF Charles Hoskin (A)-11 points, 2 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block. Other double digit scorers: Michigan’s C Dana Carr-12, Arizona’s SG Kejaun McPherson-12 and Ritchie Allison-10 (also 8 rebounds). Answers to pre-game questions: 1. Strangely Allison out-scored Crosby (10-3) but was Crosby stole the playmaking show with 10 assists to Allison’s 3. 2. No! Anderson dropped in 33 points, but did shoot poorly from beyond the arc (5 of 17). 3. Yes, Mighigan’s shooting was held to 42% and the Wildcats forced the Wolverines to turn the ball over 19 times including 11 steals and 4 blocks by Arizona. 4. The edge went to Michigan’s Jared Vaughn (scoring 8 more points than McPherson). 5. Michigan’s bench crushed Arizona’s bench (25 points to 9 points) but that wasn’t enough to offset the home court advantage held by the Wildcats.

Game 1: Duke Blue Devils at Michigan State Wolverines On paper, the perimeter strength of Michigan State (10-2) seems to outweigh the interior domination of Duke. But Duke (9-3) beat Michigan St. in the championship game of Preseason NIT by a score of 71-56. Then a few weeks later the Spartans were totally destroyed by the Blue Devils to the tune of 86-54 when playing them in Durham, NC. Today’s game is in Lansing, Michigan so can the Spartans reverse the story? In addition, Duke is coming into today’s game on a two-game losing streak whereas Michigan State is riding a 6-game win streak. Starting for Duke: 6-1 Sr PG Al Brown, 5.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 4.6 apg 6-4 So SG Andre Davis, 15.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.9 apg 6-6 Fr SF Lionel Dukes, 14.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.1 apg 6-6 Fr PF Ime Selden, 7.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.1 apg 6-9 Sr C Eric Smith, 9.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.2 spg, 2.3 bpg Starting for Michigan State: 5-11 Fr PG Marques Ferguson, 9.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 5.4 apg 6-6 Jr SG Deon Boardman, 23.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.7 spg, 1.5 bpg 6-7 Jr SF Blake Anderson, 14.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg 6-7 So PF Marino Brown, 4.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.0 apg 6-10 Jr C Mike Bersticker, 7.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.3 apg Defensively center Eric Smith is a beast for Duke. The top defensive and offensive player for Michigan State is SG Marques Ferguson. Pre-game questions: 1. Can Duke’s experience at PG contain the Spartans’ talented freshman PG? 2. Can Michigan State’s high-scoring SG have a big game? 3. The SF’s for both teams have very similar statistics so will one gain an advantage today? 4. Will either PF deliver a strong game? 5. Can Duke’s center totally dominate inside? 1st half highlights: • Selden (D) had two blocks in first possession by Michigan State. • Bersticker (MS) called for 2nd at 13:53 mark with Michigan State leading 10-7. • Ferguson (MS) scored 8 points in first 7 minutes. • Duke shot poorly early in the half to allow Michigan State to open a small lead. • Turnovers plagued Duke and Michigan State shot well to take 23-13 lead with 9 minutes left in the half • Spartans bombed away from outside, hitting 10 of 19 threes in the first half. • Fans definitely provided home court advantage to Spartans. • Michigan State pulled away for 46-34 halftime lead. • Guard duo of Ferguson and Boardman carried the Spartans with Ferguson dropping in 17 and Boardman chipping in 12 in the half and combined to knock down 9 of 12 threes. Anderson added 9. For Duke, Davis scored 12 while Smith scored 6 and hauled down 7 boards. 2nd half highlights: • Davis (D) scored almost at will but Boardman and Ferguson (MS) offset his performance by continuing to knock down shots from outside. • Throughout most of the 2nd half Michigan State held a 10-15 point advantage. • Duke cut the lead to 7 with 6 minutes to go in the game, but Michigan State poured in the next 11 points to put the game out of reach. Final score was 82-70 in favor of the Spartans. • Duke controlled the boards, 42-31 but turned the ball over 16 times to Michigan States’ 10 turnover. The Spartans outshot the Blue Devils 45% to 39% and hit 19 of 41 threes. Michigan State got to the foul line just 5 times (there were a total of 12 team fouls against Duke). Duke went to the line 15 times (Michigan State was called for 16 team fouls). • Offensively Michigan State was led by their 3 perimeter players: Boardman with 29, Ferguson with 25, and Anderson with 15. Ferguson also dished out 10 assists. Defensively Brown had 4 steals and 3 blocks and Anderson had 5 blocks and a steal. • Duke’s Davis finished with high-point honors, scoring 32 points. He also pulled down 10 rebounds. Smith hauled down 13 boards. Selden and Smith combined for 5 steals and 4 blocks. Top 5 players: 1. PG Marques Ferguson (MS)-25 pt, 10 a, 4 r, 2 s (hit 9 of 16 FG and 7 of 10 threes) 2. SG Andre Davis (D)-32 pt, 10 r (20 pts in the 2nd half) 3. SG Deon Boardman (MS)-29 pt, 4 a, 1 r, 2 s, 2 b (17 pts in the 2nd half) 4. SF Blake Anderson (MS)-15 pt, 5 a, 9 r, 1 s, 5 b 5. C Eric Smith (D)-7 pt, 2 a, 13 r, 3 s, 1 b (held Bersticker and his replacement to just 4 pts and 7 reb) Answers to pre-game questions: 1. No, Michigan State’s PG Marques Ferguson completely burned Duke the entire game. 2. Yes, Deon Boardman had a great game. 3. Michigan State’s Blake Anderson had a very strong game (15 pts, 5 assists, 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 5 blocks) and completely out-played his counterpart. 4. Neither PF had a strong game offensively, but both were very dominant defensively (Duke’s Ime Selden had 2 steals and 3 blocks; Michigan State’s Marino Brown had 4 steals and 3 blocks). 5. While not dominating, Duke’s Eric Smith played a very solid game (7 points, 2 assists, 13 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block).

Round 1 matchups: Game 1: #5 Duke at #4 Michigan State Game 2: #6 Michigan at #3 Arizona Game 3: #7 Kansas at #2 Georgia Tech Game 4: #8 Mississippi at #1 North Carolina

Pollsters Top 8 Holiday Tournament This special holiday tournament matches up the top 8 teams in the polls after the completion of pre-conference play. Both the Media and Coaches Polls this year have are identical for the top 8 places. They are: 1. North Carolina Tarheels (AAC) 2. Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (AAC) 3. Arizona Wildcats (Pac-12) 4. Michigan State Spartans (Big 10) 5. Duke Blue Devils (ACC) 6. Michigan Wolverines (Pac-12) 7. Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12) 8. Mississippi Rebels (SEC) [NOTE: The teams and rankings are from the Tad Bolton dynasty thread that I’m running separately. This tournament is being played in “Exhibition” mode. Since it’s not possible to set Exhibition games to be played on a neutral court, games are being played on the home courts of the top-ranked team in each game. The games are being simmed with the computer running both teams.]

Bison Blog Thursday night the NCSU Bison travelled to Fort Wayne, Indiana for a game against the IPFW Mastodons (8-6, 1-2). SG Kevin Brinker picked up 2 fouls in the first two minutes. His replacement, Kelsey Brown was saddled with 2 fouls four minutes later. The Mastodons’ SG Armand Marsh was charged with his 2nd foul just 7-1/2 minutes into the game. His replacement picked up 2 fouls after just 3 minutes on the court. Obviously, the refs didn’t like shooting guards. In the first half 14 fouls were charged against IPFW and 13 against the Bison. If it weren’t for the refs whistles blowing continuously, the crowd probably would have realized an exciting basketball game was being played with 16 lead changes and 9 ties. At the half, NDSU led 33-32. If NDSU hadn’t been a -7 in rebounds and had they been able to hit more than 61% of their free throws, their lead would even have been larger. Six Bison players had 2 fouls apiece and 4 Mastodons had 2 fouls apiece with one of their players sidled with 3. Reserve PG Cliff Evans was the top scorer for the Bison with 9 points. After falling behind by 8 points midway through the 2nd half, the Bison rallied to draw with a single point with 4:37 to go. Then with 2-1/2 minutes left, Colin Shannon hit a 3 that put the Bison on top 58-57. IPFW came right back to score inside and retake the lead by a point. The Mastodons then scored the next 4 points. That was a deficit that was more than the Bison could overtake. The final score was IPFW-66, NDSU-59. IPFW out-rebounded the Bison 36-25 and dominated inside on the offensive end of the court, outscoring the Bison 30-14 in the paint and 16-2 on 2nd chance shots. Leading scorers for the Bison were SF Brandon Tracy with 11 points, and PG David Miller with 9. The loss dropped the Bison to 9-6, 3-1 and into a 2nd place tie in the Summit League. Their next game will be at home against league-leading South Dakota State. After the game both coaches complained about the officiating. “Our rhythm was continually interrupted by all the whistles,” said NDSU Coach Bolton. Beyond losing the game, two Bison players sustained injuries. SF Michael Daniels sprained an ankle and SG Kelsey Brown injured his knee. Both are expected to miss at least the next game. Coach Bolton commented, “Our bench definitely will be short for the game against the Jackrabbits. We need to stay out of foul trouble.” When asked about rebounding, Bolton responded, “After dominating the boards early this season, this is the third straight game in which our opponents have controlled the boards. We can’t afford to let this continue so we’ll definitely will be working on this in practice.”

Fargo Forum newspaper Bison improve to 3-0 in Summit League Action Hosting the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks have had a tough season, winning just 3 of their 13 games and they’re winless in Summit League play. The first half went according to the Bison game plan. They took an early lead and held onto it, taking a 31-24 advantage to the locker room. The bison had balanced scoring with SF Brandon Tracy scoring 6 to lead the team. But the Bison couldn’t shake the pesky Mavericks in the 2nd half. Finally with 4-1/2 minutes to play, NDSU carved out a 15 point lead. North Dakota State kept their spotless record intact by finishing with a 64-52 victory. Reserve PG David Miller led the Bison scoring with 12 points, while starters PG Colin Shannon and SF Brandon Tracy scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Shannon also had 5 assists and 5 rebounds. No players on the Mavericks scored in double figures and their top scorer, SF Albert Callahan who had been averaging over 13 ppg was held scoreless.

WDAY TV Late Night Sports Report Before tonight’s game against the Western Illinois Leathernecks, the problem confronting North Dakota State was how to stop the guard due of Dante Porter and Steve Magliore who were averaging a combined 29 ppg in the Leatherneck’s first 12 games this season. While those two guards weren’t stoppable, the Bisons came up with a different way to get around the problem. That was by the Bisons catching fire and hitting 74% of their FG attempts in the first half. They quickly built a double-digit lead and finished the half with a 51-37 lead. Coach Bolton employed a tenacious full court defense extensively that kept the Leathernecks off balance. PG Colin Shannon scored 10 points to lead the Bison offense in the first half. Early in the 2nd half, NDSU expanded their lead to 20 points as SF Brandon Tracy poured in 11 points in the first 6 minutes of the half. The Bison maintained a big lead the rest of the game. The Leathernecks hit some shots in the final few minutes that cut the final difference to 88-74. The Bison played a second straight game with few turnovers, making just 9 during this game. PF Evan Williams came off the bench to drop in 15 points. C Matt Haywood and SG Kevin Brinker both scored 12 points while SF Brandon Tracy and PG Colin Shannon each had 11 points. Shannon also dished out 4 assists and pulled down 8 rebounds. North Dakota State now sports an 8-5 season record. The Bison are tied for the Summit League lead with South Dakota at 2-0.

Fargo Forum newspaper North Dakota State Opens Summit League Play Conference play began for North Dakota State’s basketball team when Oral Roberts came to town last night. The Golden Eagles had been streaky this year, losing their first two games then winning 4 straight and then going on a 5-game losing streak. The team had scored mostly from the perimeter with little inside scoring. After PG Morgan Scott scored the Golden Eagles’ first 6 points, the Bison double teamed him to keep him from putting up shots. But the Bison suffered from cold shooting and trailed for the first 19 minutes of the game. At that point Evan Williams intercepted a pass and fired it up court to a streaking Kevin Brinker who drove in for a dunk to put the Bison on top by a point. The half ended with the Bison nursing a 28-27 lead. PG Colin Shannon led the Bison scoring with 8 points at the midpoint of the game. The Bison scored the first 7 points of the 2nd half. NDSU held onto a small lead from that point but with 7 minutes to go they went on a run that put them ahead 63-50. Oral Roberts tried to come back, but the Bison’s dominance on the boards and unexpectedly good control of the ball kept the Bison on top for a 69-58 victory. NDSU’s guards carried their offense with PG Colin Shannon dropping in 16 points, SG Kevin Brinker hitting a high percentage of his shots to finish with 13 points, and reserve PG David Miller contributing 11. C Matt Haywood added 9 points plus pulled down 6 rebounds. After the game, Coach Tad Bolton praised his team by saying, “We fought our way out of an early hole and then in the second half controlled the boards. And we finally got control of turnover problems that had bedeviled us throughout pre-conference play.” Colin Shannon has averaged 19 ppg for the last 5 games and has led the Bison in scoring in 4 of those 5 games. When queried about his scoring proficiency, Shannon responded, “The coaches worked with me on some changes in how I was releasing the ball after reviewing game films of earlier games. That’s improved the arc of my shot and has given me renewed confidence in my shooting. But more importantly I’ve been able to triple the number of assists I was averaging in our first 5 games this season. Taking on the point guard responsibilities has been a learning experience.” This Friday night North Dakota State (7-5, 1-0) travels to take on Western Illinois (8-4, 0-1).

Fargo Forum newspaper Summit League Hoops Preview With league play beginning this week, the North Dakota State Bison’s 6-5 record is surpassed only by Western Illinois (8-3) and IPFW (7-4). All other Summit League contenders had losing records in pre-conference play. Western Illinois has 3 players scoring in double figures. SG Dante Porter leads their scoring with a 15.7 ppg average. PG Stevie Magliore is right behind at 14.8 ppg. PF Calvin Thomas is averaging 11.8 ppg. The Leathernecks have quality wins over Butler, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati. IPFW opened the season with an overtime win on the road over UNLV and then reeled off 6 straight wins. But they have lost their last 3 games. PG Armand Marsh is their leading scorer, averaging 14.5 ppg. North Dakota State ran off 4 straight wins including a 73-68 victory over #11 Boston College, but they dropped their final two games coming into conference play. PG Colin Shannon is averaging 12.4 ppg and SG Kevin Brinker has a 11.4 ppg average. In order to seriously challenge for the top spot in the Summit League, the Bison are going to have to tend the ball better to reduce their turnovers while also fouling less often. Of the remainder of the conference: C Roland Mullahon is averaging 16.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg for South Dakota (5-6). The Denver Pioneers (4-7) are led by SG Derrick Williams (16.5 ppg). Top scorer for IUPUI (4-7) is SG Brian Hall who is averaging 12.3 ppg. Oral Roberts (4-7) had a big win over Virginia earlier this season and their offense is led by PG Morgan Scott (13.5 ppg). Topping the scoring for South Dakota State (4-7) is SG Darrell Toten (11.8 ppg). C Ian Leatherman (13.6 ppg) leads the scoring for Nebraska-Omaha (3-8). North Dakota State hosts Oral Roberts on Monday to kick off their Summit League campaign. Coach Tad Bolton commented, “The Summit League is very balanced this year so any team can beat any other team on a given night. In our last two games we played strongly in the first half and then let both games get away from us in the second half. When playing on the road, we have to play tough for the entire 40 minutes if we expect to win.”

“Unofficial NorDakStater”—a blog by Ron Slocum The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners had lost all 4 road games they’d played but they were 5-2 at home coming into the game against the Bison. Their offense was buoyed by a a Mr. Outside (PG John Bush, 12.9 ppg) and a Mr. Inside (C Earl Simmons, 12.6 ppg). North Dakota State came out to play in the first half. They took an early lead and extending it midway through the half to as much as 9 points by deploying a stingy defense. The Roadrunners cut the lead to 3 but then the Bison pulled away to take a 41-31 halftime lead. The Bison dominated all team statistics except turnovers. Offensive production came mainly from Bison point guards as both Colin Shannon and David Miller scored 10 points and Cliff Evans added 3. But the question lingered through the halftime intermission: After the way the Bison’s blew a 14 point lead in their last game, could a 10 point lead be considered safe? The Roadrunners began hitting their shots in the 2nd half and with 12-1/2 minutes remaining had cut the lead to just a single point. CSU Bakersfield then pulled ahead 59-57 with 10 minutes left. NDSU then fell behind by 7 points before rallying to pull within 3 points with 2 minutes left in the game. Colin Shannon was fouled with 1:40 to go and hit both shots to shave the Roadrunner lead to 73-72. After a missed shot by CSU Bakersfield, Kevin Brinker put up a contested 15 footer that failed to go down but he was fouled on the shot. He made just one of two and the game was tied. Both teams failed to score on their next possessions, but the Roadrunners’ Earl Simmons was fouled with 35 ticks on the clock. He made just one of two. Trailing by one, Coach Bolton called a timeout to call a play. But Kevin Brinker lost the ball and the Bison were forced to foul. CSU Bakersfield scored on both free throws. Brinker’s 3 point shot from 25 feet out rimmed out at the buzzer. The Bison were saddled with their second straight nail-bitter loss, 76-73. That dropped their record to 6-5 going into conference play. Again turnovers proved to be the Bison’s undoing. They turned the ball over 18 times and were a -8 in that team statistic. PG Colin Shannon again played a strong game, scoring 21 points while dishing out 3 assists and pulling down 5 rebounds. SG Kevin Brinker had 11 points and PG David Miller scored 10.

Donnell Braxton, ESPN Sports Center Tonight we’re taking a look at another Division I small college basketball program. This time it’s the North Dakota State Bison. NDSU hired Tad Bolton as their coach before this season began. With no Division I coaching experience and taking on a team that has had a dismal record the past several years, no one expected much from the team from Bismarck. This was particularly true since North Dakota State is known as a football school. Last night the Tigers lost on the road to Pacific but still have a 6-4 record. Their offense primarily comes from their perimeter players with SG Kevin Brinker averaging 11.5 ppg, PG Colin Shannon 11.4 ppg, and SF Brandon Tracy 9.1 ppg. One of the strengths of the Bisons is rebounding. They are a + 4.2 per game in rebounding thus far this season after 10 games. Coach Bolton has his players working the ball around so that they are getting good looks at the basket. They are hitting 48% of their field goal attempts, 76% of their free throws, and 37% of their threes. But this deliberate approach has caused the Bisons to be error-prone, averaging 17.3 turnovers per game. The Bison are 1 of just 3 teams in the Summit League that have a winning record thus far, so they could challenge favorite Western Illinois for the conference title.

NDSU News, college newspaper Bison Let Lead Slip Away Another away game, this time against the University of Pacific Tigers in Stockton, California. The Tigers held a 2-5 record before the game began. This was the first game of a 2-game road trip to California. The Bison turned the ball over 3 of their first 4 possessions giving the Tigers a quick 4-0 lead. But the game was tied at 8-8 at the first TV timeout. NDSU took their first lead at 18-17 with 9 minutes left in the first half. The Bison held onto a slim lead most of the rest of the half and at the break sported a 41-36 advantage as they outshot Pacific 55% to 35%. PG Colin Shannon poured in 11 points in the half. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, NDSU expanded their lead to 10. But the Tigers roared back and tied the game at 59-59 with 9 minutes remaining and then took a 63-61 lead with 6:50 to go. The Bison regained the lead and with 4:20 to go were ahead 68-65. Pacific turned things around by taking a 72-68 lead with 3 minutes on the clock. NDSU cut the lead to 2 points with 90 seconds left. Pacific hit 1 of 2 free throws with 25 seconds remaining to take a 75-72 lead. The Bison missed a shot and had to foul. Pacific sunk both shots to salt the game away. A late basket by NDSU was meaningless as they lost 77-74. Team statistics were close but Pacific made 6 more points at the free throw line. PG Colin Shannon dropped in 24 points to lead all scorers. The 6-4 Bison will travel down Highway 99 for a game against Cal State Bakersfield to end their pre-conference season.