CROOKSTON, Minn. - Bemidji State University closed the final 19 minutes of tilt Thursday, February 8 on a 40-23 run catapulted by a 31-point night from Dalton Abrecht to defeat the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team 80-62.
Albrecht and John Sutherland scored 52-of-80 points for the Beavers, accounting for 65.0 percent of their offense.
Bemidji State improved to 12-12 (8-10 NSIC) with Thursday's win, while Minnesota Crookston dropped to 6-17 (3-14 NSIC) with the loss.
Minnesota Crookston was lifted by Blaize Sagna (R-Jr., G, London, England), who scored 20 points. He has 12 games with 20 or more points this season. Sagna went 8-of-18 from the field. Ben Hoverson (Jr., F, Grand Forks, N.D.) added 13 points on 5-of-14 from the field. Hoverson has five double-figure games this season. Aguek Deng (Jr., F, Des Moines, Iowa) finished with six points, nine boards, and four steals.
The Golden Eagles went 25-of-61 for 41.0 percent from the field. Minnesota Crookston was 5-of-23 for 21.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 7-of-11 for 63.6 percent from the foul line. The Golden Eagles were outrebounded 40-28. They forced 13 Beaver turnovers.
Bemidji State was lifted by 31 points from Albrecht, and 21 from Sutherland. Brayden WIlliams added 11 points, and seven assists. Albrecht had a double-double with 12 rebounds, while Sutherland had nine boards. Tate Olson chipped in eight rebounds.
The Beavers went 30-of-54 from the field for 55.6 percent. They were 10-of-21 for 47.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 10-of-16 for 62.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Minnesota Crookston jumped out to a 4-3 lead following a Deng steal and dunk. Bemidji State countered with a 9-0 run, as a B.J. Davis trey gave the Beavers a 12-4 advantage. Minnesota Crookston pulled within four (12-8) after another steal and fastbreak bucket from Deng. BSU responded with an old-fashioned three-point play from Sutherland to go ahead 15-8 with 14:21 left in the first half. Minnesota Crookston pulled within three points (18-15) following a four-consecutive points from Sagna. Johnny Tennyson countered the run with a triple to make it 21-15. Hoverson answered on the other end with a trey of his own to cut the deficit to 21-18. Minnesota Crookston trimmed the deficit to one (22-21) on a Sagna jumper with 6:58 remaining in the stanza. Bemidji State responded with a 4-0 run to take a 26-21 lead. Minnesota Crookston was able to slice away at the lead and knot the game 30-30 on a pair of Sagna free throws. The Beavers were able to go into the locker room with a four-point advantage following an Albrecht jumper.
Minnesota Crookston pulled within one point early in the second half when Sagna hit a trey. However, a quick 10-0 run guided by a pair of Albrecht three-pointers catapulted BSU to a 49-39 lead with 17 minutes remaining. Minnesota Crookston got the lead down to single digits on a De'Antray Hughes (Sr., F, New Orleans, La.) bucket. However, a 10-0 run, propelled by eight Albrecht points, gave the Beavers a 60-41 lead with 12:19 left in the game. The Golden Eagles countered with an 8-0 run, as a Hoverson dunk cut the Beaver lead to 11 points. Minnesota Crookston remained within 11 points after a Deng jumper with 4:52 left in the game. However, Bemidji State closed the game on an 11-4 run to pick up the 80-62 win.
Minnesota Crookston heads to Aberdeen, S.D., Saturday, February 10 to face Northern State University.
