Freshman Lance Rongstad dropped a career-high 29 and senior guard Seth Haake, playing in his final game at the BSU Gymnasium, scored 20 as the Bemidji State University men's basketball team defeated Winona State 88-86 Saturday.
The win makes four in a row for the Beavers and a season sweep of the Warriors. The last time BSU swept Winona in a season was 2003-04.
"The guys played with a lot of heart and a lot of guts," said head coach Matt Bowen. "We are playing our best basketball at the end of the year. It has been really fun to watch. We got the line, got it inside and made enough 3-pointers to make it interesting. We're still n the hunt for the playoffs mathematically, so we'll just keep winning and see what happens."
"It's great going out with a win," Haake said. "I've had some great memories in this building. We played strong, executed the game plan, went out and had fun and everything worked out."
The Beavers (11-14, 7-11 NSIC) won the battle of the two best free throw shooting teams in the conference, going 33 of 38 from the line. WSU (17-8 overall and 11-7 NSIC)made 14 of 23.
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Haake ended his career at the BSU Gymnasium by fouling out of the contest. He scored 20 points in 26 minutes, on 7-of-11 shooting. Rongstad added seven rebounds and two key blocks down the stretch. Junior forward Patrick Cassidy scored nine points and added nine rebounds, four on the offensive end. He also had four assists. Sophomore guard Bryce Tesdahl played every minute of the game, scoring 14 points, while adding eight assists and four rebounds. Lendl had eight points and seven rebounds.
The Beavers finish the season Wednesday at Minnesota-Duluth and Saturday at Wayne State.
WINONA STATE: Fischer 9-14 4-6 25; Johnson 5-11 4-7 17; Hintz 4-10 2-4 14; Vette 6-10 0-0 12; Armstrong 3-5 1-1 7; Humphrey 2-3 0-0 6; Erickson 1-4 1-2 3; Walburg 0-1 2-3 2; Doedens 0-2 0-0 0; Culver 0-0 0-0 0; Meyer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 14-23 86.
BEMIDJI STATE: Rongstad 7-12 13-15 29; Haake 7-11 4-5 20; Tesdahl 3-6 8-8 14; Cassidy 3-8 3-4 9; Lendl 2-4 3-4 8; Walters 2-7 2-2 6; Berthene 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 25-51 33-38 88.
Winona State 29 57 - 86
Bemidji State 36 52 - 88
3-point goals--Winona State 12-29 (Hintz 4-8; Johnson 3-7; Fischer 3-6; Humphrey 2-2; Doedens 0-2; Erickson 0-2; Vette 0-2), Bemidji State 5-13 (Haake 2-3; Rongstad 2-4; Lendl 1-1; Walters 0-2; Berthene 0-1; Tesdahl 0-2). Fouled out--Winona State-Erickson; Humphrey , Bemidji State-Haake. Rebounds--Winona State 29 (Vette 8), Bemidji State 33 (Cassidy 9). Assists--Winona State 18 (Fischer 9), Bemidji State 15 (Tesdahl 8). Total fouls--Winona State 26, Bemidji State 19. A-855
