Dustin Tetzlaff averaged 19.0 points and 8.5 rebounds while missing just three shots from the floor all week to lead the Wolves to a pair of wins over Carleton College on Wednesday and MSU Moorhead to open NSIC play on Saturday.  Tetzlaff notched NSU’s first double-double of the season in Wednesday’s victory, finishing with 20 points and 10 boards.  He returned for 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals in a physical, up-tempo 69-66 home win over the Dragons on Saturday.  For the week, Tetzlaff was 17-for-20 from the floor (85.0 percent) and snagged eight of his 17 total rebounds on the offensive side of the floor.  He also tallied two assists, one block and five steals on the week.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE -#1 Cameron McCaffrey (G, 6-1, Sr., Portland, Ore./ Century H.S.) sank 10-12 free throws and poured in 16 points to lead Augustana to an NSIC-opening win over Wayne State 72-66.  McCaffrey shot 3-9 from the field, but made his impact at the line hitting 83.3 percent of his game-high 12 free throw attempts.  McCaffrey also doled out three assists and grabbed five rebounds to help solidify the victory for the Vikings.  The senior from Portland, Ore. also logged a game-high 36 minutes to go a long with his team-high 16 points.

BEMIDJI STATE - #3 Zach Noreen (F, 6-6, 255, Jr., Avon, Minn. / Albany HS) scored a career-high 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range to guide the Bemidji State men’s basketball team to a 90-58 victory Saturday against University of Minnesota, Crookston in the team’s NSIC and home openers. Noreen was instrumental in lifting BSU to an early lead as he scored 11 first half points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc and a 4-of-7 performance from the field. In the end, he shot 58.3 percent (7-for-12) from the field and added a team-high four rebounds, with three assists and a block in 25 minutes of play. The five 3-pointers made off the eight attempts both established career-highs for the junior. He currently ranks tied for first in the NSIC (all games) in 3-pointers made with 15. He has shot 60 percent from the 3-point land to rank tied for fourth in the league.
Senior Dermaine Crockrell also pitched-in 19 points, while senior Mason Walters added 18 points and sophomore Tor Anderson totaled 10. BSU has scored 212 points (106.0 ppg) in the last two games and allowed 119 (59.2 ppg). The Beavers are 3-2 overall entering an NSIC road weekend Dec. 7-8 at St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota Duluth. BSU looks to avenge its NCAA Tournament loss to St. Cloud State last season that ended the team’s program record 22-9 season. The Beavers have lost six straight to SCSU, with their last win coming at home Jan. 10, 2009 against the then-No. 24 Huskies 69-66. All-time, BSU is 42-92 against SCSU. The game Saturday at UMD will reunite Minnesota Duluth head coach Matt Bowen with his former team. Bowen is in his first season with the Bulldogs after spending the last seven at Bemidji State. The Beavers have won five of the last six meetings with UMD, including a season sweep last season. BSU is 40-85 all-time versus the Bulldogs.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Concordia-St. Paul dropped a tough 76-71 road game at Minnesota State on Saturday evening, snapping its three-game win streak over the Mavericks. Sophomores Cole Olstad and Terez VanPelt led Concordia with 18 points each while freshman Shea Mandli was perfect from the floor in seven attempts for a 14-point outing. The Golden Bears will return home for their NSIC home opening weekend next Friday (Upper Iowa) and Saturday (Winona State) evenings.  Concordia is 11-6 all-time against Upper Iowa including four straight wins over the Peacocks. The Golden Bears have won three straight at home over Upper Iowa and have not lost to UIU at Gangelhoff Center since the 2007-08 season. Concordia is 5-2 all-time at home against UIU including 5-1 at Gangelhoff Center. The Golden Bears are 2-37 all-time against Winona State and have yet to defeat the Warriors at Gangelhoff Center. Concordia is 0-15 all-time at home against WSU with 14 of those contests played at Gangelhoff Center. Concordia’s last win over WSU was in the 2010-11 season at WSU, with its other win in the 2008-09 season also at WSU.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY - Alex Dorr (F, 6-6, 205, Sr., Norwalk, IA / Norwalk HS / Iowa State) scored a career-high 23 points and hauled down nine rebounds to lead the University of Mary to a 77-65 win over Minot State University in the Northern Sun opener. The senior forward was 4-of-8 on three point attempts and made all five free throws to remain perfect on the year from the charity stripe (18-of-18). With the Marauders down by three early in the second half, Dorr exploded for eight straight points to give U-Mary a lead it would never lose. Dorr finished one rebound shy of what would have been a fourth straight double double… Four other Marauders also reached double figures in points. Josh Turner was 4-of-6 behind the arc and scored 17 points. Jalen Jaspers had 12 points and five rebounds. Mike Johnson had 10 points and four assists and Noah Stewart added 11 points and four assists off the bench.

MINNESOTA, CROOKSTON  - Minnesota, Crookston opened the NSIC slate last weekend with a 90-58 loss to 2011-12 NSIC Conference Champion Bemidji State University on the road. The Golden Eagles will look to rebound this weekend as they head to University of Minnesota Duluth Friday and St. Cloud State University Saturday. Junior guard Ashton Harrell led the Golden Eagles last weekend against the Beavers with a season-high 15 points off the bench.

MINNESOTA DULUTH  - A shortened UMD lineup found itself on the wrong end of a conference-opening rout, taking a 97-68 beating at the hands of St. Cloud State. The Bulldogs put themselves in an early 11-3 hole, and never recovered in dropping to 2-3 overall on the year. The Huskies shot the lights out, making 57 percent of their field goals on their way to the win on their home floor. St. Cloud State has taken six straight meetings against UMD, which last upended the Huskies on Jan. 9, 2009.

MINNESOTA STATE -  Zach Monaghan (G, 6-2, 175, So., Palatine, Ill./Fremd/South Dakota State) scored a game-high 23 points and passed out eight assists in Minnesota State’s 76-71 victory over Concordia Saturday evening in the league lidlifter for both teams.  Monaghan, who with his accounted for 20 points with his eight helpers, had a direct hand in 56.7 percent of Minnesota State’s points in the win.  He also had three rebounds, two steals and a block in the win while shooting 6-of-14 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the stripe.
Minnesota State is now 5-0 in NSIC openers since it joined the league in 2012…The win over Concordia Saturday evening snapped MSU’s three-game losing streak to the Golden Bears…Sophomore guard Zach Monaghan scored a game-high 23 points against the Golden Bears…The 23 points is the most scored by a Maverick this season…MSU owned an 18-3 edge on CU on the offensive glass turning those 18 points into 21 second chance points…The Mavericks host Winona State and Upper Iowa this weekend…MSU is 81-40 all-time against WSU and 12-0 all-time against UIU…Saturday’s game time has been changed to 8 p.m.

MSU MOORHEAD - Anthony Tucker (G, 6-4, Sr., Burnsville, Minn. / Minnetonka HS) averaged 23.5 points, 3.5 assists and 8.5 rebounds per game in helping the Dragons to a 1-1 week. He scored a career-high 31 points in the Dragons’ 79-66 win over Valley City State on Nov. 27 while also adding a career-high 12 rebounds and dishing out five assists. Tucker followed that with 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in the Dragons’ 69-66 loss to Northern State on Dec. 1. Tucker leads the Dragons at 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
Sophomore guard Jordan Riewer had a solid week for the Dragons, averaging 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. He scored 10 points and had four rebounds in a 79-66 win over Valley City State, and followed with 13 points and six rebounds in a 69-66 loss to Northern State. Riewer is averaging 10.2 points per game on the season, third on the team.

MINOT STATE - Minot State University did not defend very well in the second half as the University of Mary pulled away in the second half, outscoring MISU 49-37 in the second for a 77-65 win over the Beavers. It spoiled first-year head coach Matt Murken’s and the Beavers debut in the Northern Sun. #14 Chris East (G, 6-6, 218, Jr., Toronto, Ontario / Mother Theresa / ASA Institute) had a solid game, leading Minot State with 15 points and eight rebounds. #15 Thomas Korf (F, 6-5, 199, So., St Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Tech) knocked down four 3-pointers en route to 12 points and #4 Kelvin Fraser (F, 6-9, 215, Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y. / International Business School / Imperial Valley College) added 10 points and two blocks. Fraser now has 88 blocks in a year and four games and is the Beavers career leader. Minot State will play its first ever home NSIC games this coming weekend, playing host to Minnesota State-Moorhead Friday and Northern State Saturday.

NORTHERN STATE - Dustin Tetzlaff (F, 6-7, 210, Sr., Watertown, S.D./Watertown HS/Univ. of South Dakota) averaged 19.0 points and 8.5 rebounds while missing just three shots from the floor all week to lead the Wolves to a pair of wins over Carleton College on Wednesday and MSU Moorhead to open NSIC play on Saturday.  Tetzlaff notched NSU’s first double-double of the season in Wednesday’s victory, finishing with 20 points and 10 boards.  He returned for 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals in a physical, up-tempo 69-66 home win over the Dragons on Saturday.  For the week, Tetzlaff was 17-for-20 from the floor (85.0 percent) and snagged eight of his 17 total rebounds on the offensive side of the floor.  He also tallied two assists, one block and five steals on the week.

SIOUX FALLS - #11 Derek Brown (G, 6-0, 175, Jr., Clark, S.D.) led Sioux Falls with a game-high 23 points in a losing effort Saturday night at Southwest Minnesota State University. A great deal of the Cougars early success could be traced back to Brown, who tallied a game-high 8 points, including two big 3-pointers to guide USF to a 25-25 tie at intermission. Brown stayed hot in the second half, where he went 4-of-6 from the floor, 3-of-4 behind the arc, to add 15 points to his total. He finished with five treys on just eight attempts. Browns scoring and 3-point totals were both career-highs. He was the only Cougar in double-digit scoring. USF heads to Wayne State Friday, December 7 before returning to Sioux Falls to face crosstown rival Augustana Saturday, December 8.

SMSU - Junior guard Vinard Birch (5-11, Eagan, Minn.), after missing a game with an injury, returned in SMSU’s conference opener on Saturday night and scored nine points with a game-high four assists, while adding three rebounds and two steals in just 21 minutes in SMSU’s 70-60 win over Sioux Falls.  Birch and the SMSU defense limited USF to just 36 percent shooting in the game.

ST. CLOUD STATE - Shaun Jensen (Sr., G, Spring Lake Park, Minn.) notched a double double in the Huskies 97-68 NSIC opening win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. Jensen scored 11 points and dished out 10 assists. He had six assists in the second half. He also had four rebounds and one steal. The 22nd ranked Huskies are 4-0 this season and the team captain has 21 assists over his last two games.
The 22nd ranked Huskies opened at home and the NSIC with a 97-68 win over Minnesota Duluth and are 4-0 on teh season. For the fourth straight game Theo Rothstein (Sr., F, St. Michael, Minn.) led the Huskies in scoring. He tallied 24 points and has scored in double figures in all four games.He also had eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks. Shaun Jensen (Sr., G, Spring Lake Park, Minn.) had a double double in points with 11 and assists with 10. Jordan Poydras (G, FY, DePere, Wis.) made five of six three-point baskets for a season and career high 17 points. James Fort (C, So., Annandale, Minn.) had a career high 15 points and Connor Niehaus (F, So., Fremont, Neb.) had a career high nine rebounds. The Huskies made 12 three-point baskets in the game, shot 54.7 percent from the field and 40 percent from three point range.

UPPER IOWA - Tucker Wentzien (P, 6-8, 240, Sr., Solon, Iowa) led the Peacocks to an upset victory over #9 Winona State on the road with 17 points and 8 rebounds.  The Peacock post dropped 11 of his 17 in the final run that fueled UIU’s rally from a twelve-point deficit with 5 minutes to play.  Upper Iowa battled back to pull within one in the final seconds as Wentzien pulled down a loose ball and put up a high-arcing reverse layup that kissed off the glass and fell through the net at the buzzer to give Upper Iowa (3-2, 1-0 NSIC) the 64-63 victory. The win is UIU’s second versus Winona State since moving up to NCAA Division II prior to the 2005-06 season.  The Peacocks have faced the Warriors (6-2, 0-1 NSIC) sixteen times since then, but have now won two of the last four meetings.  The victory was also Upper Iowa’s first at McCown Gymnasium in Winona.

WAYNE STATE - Amry Shelby, a 5-11 senior guard from Marion, Iowa (Marion HS), averaged 20 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in helping the Wildcats go 1-1 during the week.  Shelby scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in Tuesday's 86-71 non-conference win over York College and then scored another 20 points Saturday night on 8 of 12 shooting in Wayne State's 72-66 loss at Augustana College in the NSIC opener for the Wildcats.  Shelby currently ranks third in the NSIC in scoring averaging 20.0 points per game.
 
WINONA STATE -  The Winona State men’s basketball team opened its conference slate with a 64-63 loss to Upper Iowa. UIU was able to erase a six point deficit in the last 30 seconds and win on a last-second layup. Clayton Vette led the Warriors with 14 points while Kellen taylor and Xaiver Humphrey added 11. The Warriors will return to action this weekend for games at Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul.

Past NSIC Players of the Week
11/13/12: Anthony Tucker - MSUM
11/20/12: Amry Shelby - WSC
11/26/12:  Theo Rothstein - SCSU
12/3/12: Dustin Tetzlaff - NSU

#NSIC#