Collin Pryor led Northern State to a pair of NSIC wins to open 2013 last weekend.  The senior poured in a career-high-matching 25 points on Friday night, going 11-for-11 from the line in the effort, to lead NSU to a 64-61 win over NSIC defending champion Bemidji State.  He also had nine boards, two assists and two steals in the win.  On Saturday, Pryor scored just eight points but had seven rebounds in limited minutes in NSU’s big 66-47 win over Minnesota, Crookston.  For the weekend, Pryor averaged 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, two assists and one steal per game for the Wolves, who have now won 11 of their last 12 games after starting the season 0-2.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE -#1 Cameron McCaffrey (G, 6-1, 170, Sr., Portland, Ore./Centruy HS) averaged 16.0 points while dishing out seven assists as the Vikings went 1-1 over the weekend. McCaffrey finished with 15 points against Minnesota State on Friday night after playing just nine minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. Against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, McCaffrey finished with 17 points and moved into ninth on the all-time scoring list at Augustana. McCaffrey has now scored 1,523 career points as a Viking. McCaffrey led the Vikings to victory once again on Saturday scoring eight of his 17 points in the final five minutes of the game to help Augustana earn a one-point victory over the Golden Bears.
#32 Casey Schilling (F, 6-6, 190, Fr., Ellsworth, Minn./Ellsworth HS) averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds against MSU and Concordia-St. Paul this weekend. The freshman finished with a season-high 14 points on Saturday on 6 of 13 shooting.    

BEMIDJI STATE - #1 Dermaine Crockrell (G, 6-1, 165, Sr., Mesa, Ariz. / Scottsdale CC) averaged 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in an 0-2 NSIC road weekend for Bemidji State Jan. 4-5. He shot 36.0 percent from the field, went 4-for-5 (80%) from the free throw line, added three assists and two steals in 37.0 minutes per game.
Bemidji State went 0-2 in an NSIC road weekend Jan. 4-5 to begin the new calendar year. BSU lost 64-61 at Northern State before falling 82-48 at MSU Moorhead. The losses ended a three-game win streak and moved the Beavers to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in NSIC play. BSU and NSU battled all game before the road team held a 61-58 lead with 1:26 remaining in regulation. But four free throws from the Wolves handed it a 62-61 lead with 33 ticks remaining. BSU had an opportunity to get the winning bucket, but a shot attempt fell short and NSU was able to hold on for the victory. Saturday, the Beavers trailed by just four at 26-22 with 2:43 left in the first half, but the Dragons went on a 5-0 run to close the half up 31-22. The MSUM long ball then started falling and the home team ran away with the game. The contest pitted a BSU defense that ranked tied for second in the NSIC in 3-point field goal defense against the top 3-point shooting offense, which was won by the Dragons, as they went 14-for-24 (58.3%). Now the Beavers turn their attention to a league home weekend Jan. 11-12 when Augustana College and Wayne State College visit BSU Gymnasium. BSU lost 103-93 in double overtime at Augustana last season and has lost six straight to the Vikings. The Beavers are 4-8 all-time versus Augie, with the last win coming at the South Dakota Classic in Vermillion, S.D. Nov. 18, 2005 by the score of 83-71. BSU defeated Wayne State 67-61 on the road last season, then downed WSC 57-53 at home in the first round of the NSIC Tournament to improve to 17-25 all-time against the Wildcats. BSU is 3-2 in the last five games after winning the last three that ended a five-game losing streak versus the Wildcats.   

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Concordia has dropped into an 0-7 hole in Northern Sun play and is 2-7 overall with road losses at Wayne State (55-61) and Augustana (66-67) despite holding 6 and 5-point leads, respectively late in the second half each night. The young squad with just one fourth year senior and only two total seniors in the rotation has dropped all nine games this year by 10 points or less and has been within striking distance of each loss on the year. Concordia’s regular playing rotation features two seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. Sophomore Terez VanPelt earns CU Male Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this year and third time in a row as he led the Golden Bears by averaging 16.0 points and 4.0 assists in two road losses last weekend. He was also second on the team with 5.0 rebounds per game while playing 37.5 minutes per game. He converted 9-of-11 at the foul line for an 81.8% clip. He’s scored at least 13 points in every game this season while averaging 19.5 per game which ranks third in the league, and he’s had at least three assists in all but one game this season and his 4.1 assists per game rank fourth in the NSIC. He’s been durable as well, averaging 35.8 minutes per game, ranking second in the league and just .03 behind the leader. He had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists on Friday at Wayne State and 19 points, four assists and three rebounds on Saturday at Augustana.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY - Josh Turner (G, 6-3, 190, Sr., Aurora, CO) exploded for a career-high 28 points in a heartbreaking 71-69 loss at Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. The senior guard drained six treys in 12 attempts and made all six free throws. He was 8-of-14 overall from the field. Turner was in a slump prior to the outing, scoring in single digits the previous four games. He is now second in the NSIC in three made per game (2.64) and 15th in scoring (13.5)… Alex Dorr (F, 6-6, 205, Sr., Norwalk, IA) had a strong weekend shooting the ball behind the arc, making a combined 7-of-13 three-point attempts. In limited action at St. Cloud State due to foul issues, the senior forward was 3-of-3 behind the arc and scored 11 points. At Minnesota Duluth Dorr was 4-of-10 on treys. He finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. Dorr is second in the NSIC in free throw shooting (93.8 per cent), 9th in scoring (15.0), 3rd in rebounding (8.5), 7th in three pointers made/game (2.27) and 14th in three point shooting percentage (41.7).

MINNESOTA, CROOKSTON  -  Minnesota, Crookston went 0-2 on the weekend  with a pair of losses to MSU Moorhead and Northern State. The Golden Eagles will look to get on a winning track as they host Wayne State College Nov. 11 and Augustana College Nov. 12. UMC was led against MSU Moorhead by 15 points from Broderick Schmidt and Justin Rake. Against Northern State, the Golden Eagles had three players tally eight points to lead the way.

MINNESOTA DULUTH  - After suffering a tough loss Friday night at the hands of Minot State, the Bulldogs stopped a four-game losing streak in dramatic fashion with a come-from-behind win over Mary on Saturday evening. UMD (4-7 overall) trailed by as many as 14 in Saturday’s second half, but rallied late to pull off a 71-69 victory on its final possession of the game. Freshman guard Calahan Skogman knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer, then cashed in on an offensive rebound moments later to give his team the lead for good. Mary attempted a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the corner, but sophomore Kristofer Jackson blocked the shot as time expired to preserve the win. The Bulldogs will look to get on a wining streak when they head to Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State this Friday and Saturday.  

MINNESOTA STATE -   #32 Gage Wooten (G, 6-4, Jr., Aurora, Colo.) led all MSU scorers this past weekend, averaging 15 ppg, to go along with an average of 6.5 rebound and two assists per game as well. He shot a 84.6 % (11-13) from the field and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. Against Augustana, Whooten tallied a career-high 19 points, while shooting 77.8 % (7-9) from the field. He also posted seven rebounds and went 5-5 from the line. At Wayne State, Wooten did not miss a shot all night as he went 4-4 from the field and 1-1 from the line for a total of 11 points, to go along with six rebounds and four assists.
With its two road wins at Augustana and Wayne State, the Mavericks improved to a perfect 4-0 in road games and now have a 6-1 record in league play. The two wins also gave the Mavericks a 10-1 record on the season.At Wayne State, four Mavericks reached double-digits in points Connor O’Brien, Assem Marei and Zach Romashko posting 13 points, and Gage Wooten notching 11. O’Brien finished just one rebound shy of a double double against the Wildcats.As a team, MSU shot 44.6% (45-of-101) from the field this past weekend and 75% from the free throw line (33-of-44). The Mavericks passed out 21 helpers in their two wins last weekend, eight of which came from Zach Monaghan. Connor O’Brien led the Mavericks in rebounding this past weekend with 19 (9.5 rpg), while Gage Wooten led the team in scoring with 30 points (15.0 ppg).

MSU MOORHEAD - Anthony Tucker (G, 6-4, Sr., Burnsville, Minn. / Minnetonka HS) continued his excellent season in helping the MSUM men extend their winning streak to seven games with wins over Minnesota-Crookston (71-66) and Bemidji State (82-48). Tucker averaged 20.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field. He also was 7-of-13 from three-point range. In the win over UMC, he had 21 points and three assists, and followed with 19 points and five assists in the win over Bemidji State.
Freshman Tyler Vaughan had 31 points in the Dragons’ two wins on the weekend. Vaughan had 14 points in the win over Minnesota-Crookston and followed with 17 in the win over Bemidji. He finished the weekend shooting 9-of-17 (52.9 percent) from three-point range. In the Dragons’ last three games, all wins, Vaughan is averaging 14.3 points per game and has hit 12-of-20 shots from three-point range.

MINOT STATE - #15 Thomas Korf (F, 6-5, So., St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Tech) hit eight 3-pointers in just 14 attempts to help Minot State University to its first Northern Sun intercollegiate Conference sweep, knocking off Minnesota Duluth 62-55 and No. 19 ranked St. Cloud State 68-62 on the road this past weekend. Korf scored a combined 31 points in the two games, including a season-high 19 points and five 3s in Friday’s win over Duluth. He also finished with four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the two wins.
Minot State locked down both Minnesota Duluth and No. 19 St. Cloud State on defense and earned its first NSIC sweep since becoming a member of the conference. The  Beavers held Duluth to 35 percent shooting in a 62-55 win Friday and limited SCSU to 18 points under its scoring average and 32 percent shooting in a 66-62 upset Saturday. MISU has held four of its last five opponents under 70 points, winning three of those games. #00 Dominique McDonald (G, 6-0, Fr., Raleigh, N.C. / Wake Forest-Rolesville High School) continued to have a solid first season as he combined for 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. #4 Kelvin Fraser (F, 6-9, Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y. / International Business School / Imperial Valley College) added to his school record with eight more blocks on the weekend, including a season-high five against Duluth. He now has 106 in two seasons. The Beavers will look for its first ever home NSIC win as they play host to Upper Iowa Friday and Winona State Saturday.

NORTHERN STATE - Collin Pryor (F, 6-6, 190, Sr., St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East HS) led the Wolves to a pair of NSIC wins to open 2013 last weekend.  The senior poured in a career-high-matching 25 points on Friday night, going 11-for-11 from the line in the effort, to lead NSU to a 64-61 win over NSIC defending champion Bemidji State.  He also had nine boards, two assists and two steals in the win.  On Saturday, Pryor scored just eight points but had seven rebounds in limited minutes in NSU’s big 66-47 win over Minnesota, Crookston.  For the weekend, Pryor averaged 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, two assists and one steal per game for the Wolves, who have now won 11 of their last 12 games after starting the season 0-2.

SIOUX FALLS - Sioux Falls began the New Year with tough back-to-back road losses at Upper Iowa and Winona State last weekend.  James Rader (C, 6-8, 225, Sr., Littleton, Colo.) posted a career-high 26 points, finishing 9-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-11 at the line in a losing effort at Upper Iowa Friday night.  He followed up his career-night with a notable performance at Winona State, where he limited the Warriors strong inside presence, while contributing 13 points in the process. The Cougars (5-6) have yet to record a conference win on the road this season, and dropped to 1-6 in NSIC play.
SMSU - Junior center Nick Smith (6-9, Johnston, Iowa) averaged 14 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 70.6 percent (12 of 17) from the field in SMSU’s road split last weekend.  Smith finished 4 of 5 from the free throw line and also recorded three blocked shots and two assists in the two games. Smith had 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting with five rebounds in SMSU’s 91-83 overtime loss to Winona State on Friday and then scored 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting with six rebounds in SMSU’s victory over Upper Iowa.  Smith’s three blocked shots over the weekend gives him 88 in his career, ranking fifth in school history.

ST. CLOUD STATE - The 19th-ranked Huskies posted a weekend split in NSIC North action, downing the University of Mary 92-64 on Friday and falling to Minot State, 68-62 on Saturday. The loss to Minot was the first home loss and only the second of the season for the Huskies. Kevin Levandoski (So., G, Appleton, Wis.) stole the show Friday night with a school record nine steals, eight coming in the second half.  He also had 14 points in that game and followed it up with and 11 point performance on Saturday. Theo Rothstein (Sr., F, St. Michael, Minn.) led the Huskies in scoring over the weekend. He averaged 20 points a game and was 18 of 23 from the free throw line. Rothstein has scored in double figures in every game this season and is nearing the 1,000 career point scoring mark. As of 1/7/13 he has 874 career points. He tallied his 100th career steal on Saturday and ranks in the top 20 on the career chart. He currently ranks seventh on the career block chart with 66. Tim Bergstraser (Jr., C, St. Cloud, Minn.) has made a solid return to the court. He scored 18 points and 13 rebounds in the NSIC series.

UPPER IOWA - The Peacocks split a pair of NSIC contests this past weekend thanks to a 71-62 win over Sioux Falls on Friday night, before being edged out by Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night in Fayette.  Jake Hughes led Upper Iowa in scoring over the weekend with 14.5 points per game while pulling down two rebounds and handing out 1.5 assists a night. Sam Elgin followed closely behind with 14 points per game and added 3 rebounds per game.  Kierre Ogbanna provided a spark off the UIU bench over the weekend scoring 9 points and snaring 4 rebounds in each game. The Peacocks will now prepare for their longest NSIC road trip of the season.  In North Dakota for the weekend, UIU will face Minot State University in Minot on Friday before returning to Bismarck on Saturday to go against the University of Mary.
Women’s Basketball:

WAYNE STATE - Amry Shelby, a 5-11 senior guard from Marion, Iowa, was the lone Wildcat in double figures both games over the weekend as the Wildcats split NSIC home games vs. Concordia-St. Paul and #21 Minnesota State.  Shelby came through down the stretch for the Wildcats Friday night, scoring 11 of his 18 points in the final 4:00 as WSC rallied from a 53-47 deficit to record a 61-55 win against Concordia-St. Paul.  Shelby added 10 points Saturday night in a 66-54 home loss to #21 Minnesota State.  For the weekend, Shelby averaged 13.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

WINONA STATE -  Taylor Cameron, G, Jr., 6-5, Oshkosh, Wis. (North) was outstanding, averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a pair of Warrior victories over Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls. Cameron was 13-of-22 (59.1%) from the floor while also making 10 of 11 free throws. Cameron scored four points in the final 20 seconds – including a pair of free throws with six seconds left – to send WSU’s game with SMSU into overtime, a game WSU eventually won. Cameron scored 24 points in the contest while grabbing six rebounds and handing out five assists. He followed with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists the next night against USF as the Warrior moved to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in NSIC play.

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
12/10/12: Cameron McCaffrey - Augie
12/17/12: Anthony Tucker - MSUM (2)
1/2/13: Terez VanPelt - CU
1/7/13: Collin Pryor - NSU

#NSIC#