MEN'S BASKETBALL: Crockrell leads Beavers to win over Bulldogs, Bowen 66-55
DULUTH – After heading into the locker room tied 29-29 against Minnesota Duluth, the Bemidji State men’s basketball team used an 18-6 run in the first seven minutes of the second half to pull away from the Bulldogs and eventually cruise to a 66-55 NSIC win Saturday night at UMD’s Romano Gymnasium.
It was BSU’s first win against former head coach Matt Bowen, who left BSU after last season o coach at UMD.
The Beavers (4-3, 2-1 NSIC) were guided by senior guard Dermaine Crockrell, who posted 17 points on 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) shooting from the field and added five rebounds with two steals.
Jake Hottenstine paced UMD (3-4, 1-2 NSIC) with 17 points, just 10 of which came in the first half.
Senior Mason Walters posted a double double for the second straight night, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward Zach Noreen added 15 points on a 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) shooting in a dominant performance in the post.
The first half saw eight lead changes and six tied scores as the two squads traded buckets for 20 minutes. Neither team found a lead larger than a pair of possessions.
At the break, Crockrell was leading all scorers with 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field. BSU tallied nearly half its points in the paint with 14, getting seven points each from of its post players, Noreen and Walters.
The BSU offense found a rhythm early in the second half and it didn’t take long for the road team to open a nine-point advantage at 41-32 with 15:13 showing on the game clock. During that time all three BSU leading scorers scored four points.
A minute later a layup by junior Maxie Rosenbloom pushed the lead to double-figures at 43-33 and the lead stayed at 10 or larger the rest of the game.
The Beavers will host University of Mary and Minot State Dec. 14-15 at the BSU Gymnasium to wrap-up the 2012 calendar year before taking a break for the holidays.
Bemidji State 66, Minnesota-Duluth 55
Bemidji State (66) – Crockrell 8-15 1-1 17; Noreen 7-12 1-1 15; Walters 5-12 2-2 14; Rongstad 2-4 4-4 8; Edwards 2-4 0-0 6; Anderson, 1-3 0-0 2; Jones 1-1 0-0 2; Rosenbloom 1-2 0-0 2; Tesdahl 0-1 0-0 0; Farrington 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 8-8 66.
Minnesota-Duluth (55) – Hottenstine 7-20 3-4 17; Rodriguez 4-8 2-2 11; Crawford 1-1 4-4 6; Reetz 2-8 0-0 5; Ervin 2-6 1-2 5; Jackson 1-3 1-2 4; Skogman 1-5 0-0 3; Bucholz 1-2 0-0 2; Zoelle 1-8 0-0 2; Moody 0-0 0-0 0; Pohlen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 11-14 55.
Halftime Score – Bemidji State 26, Minnesota Duluth 26
