Minot upends Bemidji State 86-76
MINOT, N.D. — E.J. Williams fired in 25 points Friday night to lift Minot State to an 86-76 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men’s basketball victory over Bemidji State.
Williams hit 6 of 8 shots from the field and 12 of 15 from the free throw line.
Dermaine Crockrell topped Bemidji State’s scoring chart with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Lance Rongstad added 16, Mason Walters 14 and Zach Noreen 13.
Rongstad now is tied for 13th in career scoring at BSU with 1,129 points. He shares that position with James Ellisor who graduated last season.
Bemidji State fell to 12-12 overall and 10-10 in the NSIC. The Beavers visit the University of Mary tonight before finishing the regular season with two home games next weekend.
Minot poured in 44 points in the first half to take a 10-point lead.
Bemidji got off to a good start in the second half, shaving Minot’s lead to 46-44 after Jason Edwards’ 3-pointer capped a 10-0 run. The visiting Beavers tied it at 55-55 on Rongstad’s layup with 10:16 remaining and actually led 62-61 on Crockrell’s 3-pointer with 7:47 on the clock.
It stayed close down the stretch until Williams took over, hitting two layups and a free throw to give Minot a 77-70 edge with two minutes remaining.
Four free throws by Williams and one by Josh Johnson in the final seconds padded the hosts’ final margin.
The Beavers shot 50 percent from the field and hit 11 shots from 3-point land. Minot countered with 56 percent accuracy from the field and nine 3-pointers.
The home team also was able to convert 17 Bemidji State turnovers into 22 points.
BEMIDJI STATE (76): Crockrell 9-16 3-5 24, Rongstad 5-15 5-6 16, Noreen 5-8 0-0 13, Rosenbloom 1-2 1-2 3, Edwards 1-5 0-0 3, Farrington 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Walters 6-8 0-1 14, Schalow 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 28-58 9-14 76.
MINOT STATE (86): McDonald 3-5 0-1 8, Gandy 1-3 0-0 3, Williams 6-8 12-15 25, Randall 5-5 0-0 11, Enriquez 5-8 5-5 16, Yale 0-0 0-0 0, East 2-6 1-1 5, Korf 3-6 0-0 9, Johnson 3-9 3-4 9. Totals: 28-40 21-26 86.
Halftime: Minot State 44, Bemidji State 36.
