Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball at Bemidji State: SCSU 66, BSU 69
Three at the Buzzer Won’t Go, #24 Huskies Drop Second Straight, 66-69
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Despite his double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds), Andrew Bernstetter and the 24th ranked Huskies dropped their second in a row, falling 69-66 on the road to Bemidji State. |
Bemidji, Minn. – The St. Cloud State men’s basketball team took on Bemidji State University this evening (Jan. 10), looking to get back in the win column and erase the memory of last night’s loss. In a tight game down the stretch, the Beavers held a three point lead in the waning seconds. Set up for the final shot, the Huskies Andrew Bernstetter’s (St. Joseph, Minn.) three-point shot missed the net and the Huskies were done by the 66-69 final.
The loss tonight leaves St. Cloud State (10-4, 5-2) with a winless weekend, dropping back-to-back games for the second time this season, but the first time since Thanksgiving. Bemidji State (6-9, 4-4), meanwhile, concluded a 2-0 week.
The score was tied nine times in the second half, and six of those times it was the Beavers who scored first to break it. The last time came with 5:26 to go in the game -- after BSU’s Bryce Tesdahl scored to make it 59-59 -- when the Beavers Patrick Cassidy hit a lay-up underneath to put the home team ahead for good at 61-59 with 5:01 to play in the game. BSU would go up by as much as seven, before the Husky guards brought the game back within reach.
Brett Putz (Forest City, Iowa) – who tonight earned his first career start – hit a pair of free throws to get the Huskies within six at 61-67 with 1:27 left to play. On the next possession Taylor Witt (Morris, Minn.) hit his third three of the game to make it 64-67 with 1:02 left. After SCSU called a timeout, the Beavers missed a three-point attempt which allowed Witt to then bring his team within one at 66-67 after a lay-up with 0:16 left to play.
The Huskies then called their final timeout, and forced to foul, sent the Beavers Seth Haake to the line. Haake hit both from the stripe to make it a three point game with 10 ticks left on the clock.
In the game’s final possession, Witt controlled the ball when he was engulfed in Beaver defenders. Looking to pass, he found Bernstetter open in the corner for three. Bernstetter’s shot missed and the ball fell to the floor as time ran out.
For the second straight night, poor shooting led to the demise of the Huskies, as they again shot in 30’s at 35.7%. Things weren’t any better from behind the arc where they were 8-of-27 for 29.6%. Bemidji State connected on 44.3% of their shots from the field, while taking only 61 shots to the Huskies 70.
The Huskies went into the half trailing 30-27, but you would never have predicted it by the way they started the game. SCSU raced out of the gate and controlled the tempo of the game early. Bernstetter netted the Huskies first five points, starting the scoring from downtown with a three, and on the next trip down the court got a quick rebound and put-back to give his squad the 5-0 lead.
SCSU would go on to take a 13-3 lead, and it looked like the issues from last night had been resolved. However, the host Beavers had something else to say about that, and began to mount their rally. BSU went on a 13-2 run and finally at the 13:49 mark of the first half took their first lead and held it until the intermission.
Bernstetter finished with 18 points and pulled down a career high 14 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Witt was the team’s leading scorer as he added 21 to go along with six assists in 38 minutes of play. Putz chipped in 16, hitting double figures for the fifth straight game.
The loss to Bemidji State is the first since a 107-91 loss in the 1993-94 season.
The Huskies drop into a four-way third place tie in the conference standings, but get to return to friendly Halenbeck Hall next weekend where they are unbeaten this season. The home court advantage will have to be in full swing too, as a pair of the conference heavyweights come to visit in Southwest Minnesota and #6 Minnesota State. SCSU hosts SMSU on Jan. 16 before taking on MSU on Jan. 17. Each tip-off is set for 8:00 pm.
Revenge will also be on the mind of the Huskies as they went a combined 0-3 against the two teams last season, losing 68-82 to SMSU, and 72-96 on the road and 75-87 at home to MSU.
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