The Bemidji State men's basketball team overcame early foul trouble to win its fifth straight Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament opener Wednesday, beating Minnesota State University-Moorhead 76-63 at the BSU Gymnasium.
The No. 3 seed Beavers move on to play No. 2 seed Northern State Saturday at Winona State University. NSU ended Concordia-St. Paul's season 79-52.
BSU (15-12 overall, 9-5 NSIC) starting guard Derik Hollyfield and starting post player Manuel Guzman along with sixth-man Sherwin Johnson all sat for extended periods of time in foul trouble. That forced BSU coach Pat Smith to look deep into his bench.
"We're not the deepest team in America," Smith said. "I didn't like the flow of the game so early on I played some guys with two fouls and that decision is on me.
"We've got guys that can give us 6 to 8 quality minutes and they all stepped up and did their jobs."
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While the bench played quality minutes Stacy Pearson-Taylor and Alvin Muse stepped up while the Beavers leading scorer and rebounder were on the bench.
Pearson-Taylor set an NSIC Tournament record with 20 rebounds while Muse hit six 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 20 points.
"Manuel was in foul trouble so I knew I had to pick up the slack," said Pearson-Taylor. "I just worked on boxing out and when you do that it's much easier."
"I moved a lot more tonight," Muse said. "It's wasn't all me, my teammates did a good job of finding me."
Pearson-Taylor also scored 18 points for BSU.
"Stacy Pearson-Taylor was just an animal for us tonight," Smith said.
Muse set the pace early for the Beavers hitting two 3s within the first minute and a half to give BSU a 10-0 lead.
"We came out with an urgency to win," Muse said. "It's either win or go home right now."
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Instead of folding, however, the Dragons stormed back to take a 21-17 lead at the midway point.
"I knew they had a run in them and sure enough they made it," Smith said.
Another Muse 3 put BSU up 34-27 with 4:08 before the half but again the Dragons stepped up as Marcus Ebow's 3 with two minutes to go pulled MSUM within 34-33. Jamal O'Neal's jumper with :38 remaining made the score 37-34 at the half.
Lee Isaacson tied the game at 40-40 four minutes into the second half with a layup and another Ebow 3 gave the Dragons a 48-47 lead at the 13:00 mark.
The Beavers then dug deep and went on a 14-3 run capped by another Muse 3 for a 64-51 lead with 6:45 remaining.
Isaacson's layup with 4:27 to play cut BSU's lead to 64-57 but Muse's final 3 of the game 20 seconds later put on the finishing touches for the Beavers who outscored MSUM 12-6 the rest of the way for the win.
Duane Fields also hit double figures for the Beavers with 14 points. Hollyfield added 11 and equaled an NSIC Tournament record with nine assists.
Cedrick Hensley led the Dragons, who ended the year 16-12 overall and 5-9 in NSIC play, with a game-high 20 points. Ebow finished with 14. Guard Blake Strouth grabbed nine rebounds for MSUM who shot 52 percent in the first half and just 28 percent in the second.
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Top seed Winona State earned home court for the remainder of the tournament after beating Minnesota-Crookston 88-59. They play No. 4 seed Southwest Minnesota State who was a 71-57 winner over Wayne State.
The Beavers and Wolves battle at 2 p.m. Saturday. The title game is set for 2 p.m. Sunday.
Bemidji State 76, MSU-Moorhead 63
MSU-Moorhead (16-12, 5-9 NSIC): Blake Strouth 2-10 3-3 8, Marcus Ebow 4-10 4-6 14, Cedrick Hensley 7-18 5-8 20, Lee Isaacson 2-3 3-6 7, Kyle Nelson 1-1 3-4 5, Johnie Seals 0-1 2-3 2, Jamal O'Neal 3-6 1-2 7, A.J. Palmer 0-1 0-0 0, Matt Boelter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 21-32 63.
Bemidji State (15-12, 9-5): Derik Hollyfield 3-5 3-3 11, Alvin Muse 6-15 2-2 20, Duane Fields 5-18 0-0 14, Stacy Pearson-Taylor 7-13 4-6 18, Manuel Buzman 1-2 3-4 5, Steve Warren 1-1 2-2 4, Alex Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Sherwin Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, James Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Rodney Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Guy Falkenhagen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 14-17 76.
Halftime - Bemidji State 37-34. 3-point goals - MSU-Moorhead 4-19 (Strouth 1-6, Ebow 2-4, Hensley 1-7, Seals 0-1, Palmer 0-1), Bemidji State 12-28 (Hollyfield 2-4, Muse 6-10, Fields 4-10). Fouled out - Johnson, Isaacson. Technicals - none. Rebounds - MSU-Moorhead 31 (Strouth 9), Bemidji State 41 (Pearson-Taylor 20). Assists - MSU-Moorhead 10 (Strouth, Ebow 4), Bemidji State 17 (Hollyfield 9). Turnovers - MSU-Moorhead 16 (Strouth 5), Bemidji State 19 (Fields 6). Total fouls - MSU-Moorhead 18, Bemidji State 21. A - 569. Officials - Stacy Jameson, Andy Schultz, Dean Kockelman.
