Bemidji State 67 Wayne State 61

            Bemidji State shot 64.7 percent in the second half to hold back a Wayne State rally as the Beavers defeated the Wildcats 67-61 in Northern Sun Conference men's basketball Sunday afternoon at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The Beavers move to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in league play with the win while Wayne State slips to 4-10 and 3-7 in the NSIC.

            Bemidji State never trailed in the game that featured two first half ties.  The Beavers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead only to have WSC score the next six and tie the score at 8-8 on a Amry Shelby jumper with 11:48 to go in the half.  Shelby hit a three pointer to even the score again at 11-11, but Bemidji State held WSC without a point for the next 5:15 as the Beavers took a 21-11 lead.  With Bemidji State leading 23-13, WSC closed the final 2:57 of the half on a 11-3 run and pulled within two at 26-24 on a pair of Adol Aluong free throws with 24 seconds left before halftime.

            The visiting Beavers had the lead for the entire second half and withstood several WSC runs to hang on for the win.  Bemidji State took their biggest lead of the second half at nine points, 57-48, on a Mason Walters layup with 6:39 remaining.  WSC came back and used a 12-4 run to cut the Beaver lead to one at 61-60 with 1:37 to play on a Vontrell Seroyer layin.  Bemidji State's Lance Rongstad hit a jumper on the next possession to put the Beavers up three at 63-60.  Jason Edwards made a pair of free throws following a WSC miss with 25 seconds to play to put the Beavers up five at 65-60 as Bemidji State went on to the 67-61 win.

            Amry Shelby and Vontrell Seroyer each scored 12 points to lead Wayne State in scoring.  Seroyer had all 12 of his points in the second half.  WSC made 21 of 49 shots in the game for 42.9 percent.  The 'Cats were 6 of 16 from the three point line and 13 of 15 at the charity stripe.

            Lance Rongstad and James Ellisor each recorded 16 points to lead Bemidji State with Mason Walters adding 13.  The Beavers shot 56.8 percent from the field, making 21 of 37 shots overall and 2 of 9 from three point range.  The Beavers canned 23 of 33 free throws.

            Bemidji State outrebounded Wayne State 28-21 with Bryce Tesdahl grabbing nine boards for the Beavers while Derrell Williams led Wayne State on the glass with six.

            Wayne State will play their next three games on the road, starting with a Saturday, January 14th contest at #21 Augustana College in Sioux Falls at 6:00 p.m.