For Immediate Release
Monday, Jan. 13, 2014

NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release

NSIC Player of the Week
#1  Brock Lutes
G, 6-4, 215, Jr.,
Portland, Ore.
Newberg  HS
Bemidji State

Lutes averaged 29.5 points per game and shot 65.5 percent (19-of-29) from the field to lift the BSU to its first NSIC road weekend sweep since Feb. 17-18, 2012. Lutes went 8-for-16 (50%) from the 3-point range and 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the charity stripe with five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 75 minutes. The junior recorded his second consecutive 30-point performance Friday at Augustana with a season-high 34 points, which ranks tied for second in the NSIC this season. Lutes didn’t miss a shot until midway through the second half and finished the game 11-for-13 (84.6%) from the field, 4-for-6 (66.7%) from 3-point land and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He followed that performance with 25 points in a victory at Wayne State on 8-of-16 (50%) shooting from the field, a 4-for-10 (40%) performance from beyond the arc and a 5-of-6 showing from the free throw line. In league games only, Lutes leads the NSIC in scoring with 20.7 points per game.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - #32 Casey Schilling (F, 6-6, 190, So., Ellsworth, Minn./Ellsworth HS) averaged 18 points and 6.5 rebounds to go along with six assists and five steals as Augustana went 1-1 on the weekend. Schilling led Augustana with 18 points and five rebounds against Bemidji State on Friday night before finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals against Minnesota Crookston on Saturday night. Schilling finished the weekend shooting 47.8 percent (11 of 23) from the field, hitting 5 of 6 from 3-point range and was 11 of 12 (92 percent) from the free throw line.

BEMIDJI STATE - #1 Brock Lutes (G, 6-4, 215, Jr., Portland, Ore. / Clackamas CC (Ore.)) averaged 29.5 points per game and shot 65.5 percent (19-of-29) from the field to lift the BSU men’s basketball team to its first NSIC road weekend sweep since Feb. 17-18, 2012. He went 8-for-16 (50%) from the 3-point range and 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the charity stripe with five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 75 minutes. The junior recorded his second consecutive 30-point performance Friday at Augustana with a season-high 34 points, which ranks tied for second in the NSIC this season. Lutes didn’t miss a shot until midway through the second half and finished the game 11-for-13 (84.6%) from the field, 4-for-6 (66.7%) from 3-point land and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He followed that performance with 25 points in a victory at Wayne State on 8-of-16 (50%) shooting from the field, a 4-for-10 (40%) performance from beyond the arc and a 5-of-6 showing from the free throw line. In league games only, Lutes leads the NSIC in scoring with 20.7 points per game.
BSU (10-4, 7-3 NSIC) recorded its first NSIC road weekend sweep since Feb. 17-18, 2012 with a 97-79 victory at Augustana and a 69-46 win at Wayne State, Jan. 10-11. BSU has won three straight, is 4-1 in the last five and sit in a four-way tie for first in the NSIC North. In Friday’s win, the Beavers shot a 2013-14 NCAA Division II-best 71.2 percent from the field, which also established a program record. In the last five games, BSU is shooting 59.4 percent (161-for-271) and averaging 91.4 points per game (72.4 points allowed per game). In league games only, BSU leads the NSIC in field goal percentage (52.5%), 3-point percentage (44.4%) and free throw percentage (77.9%). Bemidji State looks to continue its winning ways Jan. 17-18 at home against two other leaders in the North, MSU Moorhead and Northern State. The Beavers lost to both teams on the road earlier this season. All-time, BSU is 82-91 against MSUM in a series that dates back to 1928, while it holds a 24-56 all-time mark against NSU.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Terez VanPelt led the Golden Bears over the weekend by averaging 21.0 points while making 19-of-23 at the foul line (.826), adding 5.5 assists per night. The 42 points for the weekend leaves him just eight short of 1,000 for his career. He had back-to-back 20-plus point performances, giving him six 20-point efforts on the year which have all occurred in Concordia’s 10 conference games. He scored 22 points with six assists on Friday night at MSU Moorhead before adding 20 points and five assists on Saturday at Northern State. He’s the league’s third leading scorer overall (18.6) and second in NSIC games (19.6).
This weekend, Concordia hosts Wayne State on Friday and Augustana on Saturday. The Golden Bears are 15-15 against Wayne State, 10-5 against the Wildcats at home and 9-6 against WSC in head coach Kelly Boe’s eight seasons … Wayne State won the earlier meeting this year 65-59 in Wayne, Neb. on Dec. 14 and the Wildcats have won five of the last six in the series … Concordia won the last meeting at Gangelhoff Center last Jan. 26 (74-65) to snap a two-game home skid against WSC … Concordia is 5-11 against Augustana but are 4-4 at home against the Vikings … the Golden Bears are 2-9 against Augie in head coach Kelly Boe’s eight seasons … the Vikings defeated Concordia 79-70 in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Dec. 13 this season and have now defeated Concordia four straight times with Concordia’s last win on Jan. 3, 2012 at Gangelhoff Center.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY -  Jalen Jaspers (G, 603, 200, Sr., Minneapolis, MN / DeLasalle) put together one of the top performances by a University of Mary basketball player during the school’s NCAA era when the senior guard exploded for a career-high 31 points in a loss at Upper Iowa University. The 31 points is the most by a U-Mary player since All-American Anthony Moody scored the same total against Minnesota State on January 11, 2011. It is the eighth-highest single game total since the 2006-07 season. Jaspers made 12-of-14 shots in the contest. His single-game shooting percentage of .857 is fourth best during the same time span. The Minneapolis, Minn., native also had 10 points on a 5-for-6 shooting performance at Winona State University. For the weekend Jaspers averaged 20.5 points per game and made an amazing 85 per cent (17-of-20) of his shot attempts from the floor.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON  - Minnesota Crookston will return home to face Northern State and MSU Moorhead this weekend at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles are currently 4-10 (1-9 NSIC) on the season and are currently on an eight-game losing streak. Minnesota Crookston is coming off a pair of losses against Wayne State and Augustana. The Golden Eagles had solid moments against both teams but didn’t have enough firepower down the stretch to overcome both opponents on the road. Minnesota Crookston was led on the weekend by Brandon Burns (Sr., F, Baton Rouge, La.), who had 21 points against Wayne State and averaged 13.5 points and 3.5 rebounds on the weekend. Tyler West, Jr. (Jr., F, Portland, Ore.) also had a solid weekend, averaging 11 points and 7.5 rebounds. The Golden Eagles continue to be without leading scorer Ashton Harrell (Sr., G, Houston, Texas) who should miss the remainder of the season due to injury. Minnesota Crookston has been without Harrell for the last four games.
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH  - Senior guard Peter Crawford led the Minnesota Duluth offense in a weekend split vs. Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. Crawford had 48 points in the two games, including a career-high 34 vs. USF, accounting for over one-third of the Bulldogs’ 86 points. In that game, he fell just one free-throw short of tying a UMD record, going 16-of-17 from the charity stripe. Crawford shot 64.7 percent (11-17) for the weekend and 23-of-25 from the line. Aside from the offensive numbers, Crawford added three assists, eight steals, and seven rebounds.
The Bulldogs also got key contributions from senior guard Jordan Reetz, who nearly matched Crawford point-for-point with 30 in UMD’s 86-64 win over USF, averaging 19.0 points for the weekend. He also had five boards and a pair of blocks on the defensive end. Junior guard Junior Coleman came through for the Bulldogs in game two. Despite falling 87-62 on the night, Coleman starred with 5-of-9 from beyond the arc for 15 points.

MINNESOTA STATE - #22 Zach Monaghan (G, 6-3, Jr., 180, Palatine, Ill./Fremd/South Dakota State) averaged a double-double this past weekend for the Mavericks as he averaged 19 points and 11.5 assists per game. He connected on 15-of-28 (.536) shots from the field, including a 5-of-11 (.455) showing from behind the arc. Against Northern State, Monaghan tallied 20 points and 12 assists. He followed with an 18-point, 11-assist showing against MSU Moorhead. This is the first time he has posted double-doubles in back-to-back games.
The Mavericks finished this past weekend with a 1-1 record as they defeated Northern State 91-80 before falling to the Dragons 99-85.
MSU now owns a 14-3 record, including an 8-2 NSIC record. The Mavericks tallied a total of four double-doubles this past weekend, two of which came from Zach Monaghan who posted 20 points and 11 assists against Northern State and 18 points and 11 assists against MSU Moorhead. Senior Connor O’Brien became the 36th member of the 1,000 point club at Minnesota State after the Mavericks win over Northern State. He has now tallied 1,004 career points at MSU. Junior Assem Marei led the Mavericks in scoring and rebounds this past weekend as he averaged 23 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

MSU MOORHEAD - Jordan Riewer (G, 6-2, Jr., Staples, Minn. /Staples-Motley HS) had a solid all-around week in helping the Dragon men earn key home wins over Concordia-St. Paul (100-85) and No. 12-ranked Minnesota State (99-85).  Riewer averaged 14.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game from his point guard position. Riewer shot 64.3 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three-point range, and also was a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line. Riewer had 14 points, seven assists -- and no turnovers -- in the win over Concordia-St. Paul. Riewer followed with 15 points and six assists in the Dragons’ home win over Minnesota State. Riewer had 13 assists in the two games and just one turnover.
An impressive eight MSUM players scored in double figures during the Dragons’ 99-85 win over No. 12-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato on Saturday. Junior Urbane Bingham led the way with 17 points, while sophomore center Isaac Sevlie had a career-high 14 points.

MINOT STATE - Minot State University had an offensive lull in each game resulting in a road sweep at the hands of Upper Iowa and No. 21 ranked Winona State Friday and Saturday. The Beavers fell 88-71 to UIU and 78-64 to WSU. Against the nationally ranked Warriors, Minot State played well for nearly 30 minutes, tying the game at 44 just before the under-10 media timeout in the second half. But, WSU pulled away from there for the win. #5 Dominique McDonald (G, 6-0, 175, So., Raleigh, N.C. / Wake Forest-Rolesville) had one of his best overall weekends with a combined 27 points, nine assists and three rebounds. He hit for a team-high 17 against the Peacocks. #15 Thomas Korf (F, 6-5, 199, Jr., St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Tech) hit seven 3-pointers on the weekend good for 23 total points. Minot State will look to end a four-game losing streak to start 2014 as the Beavers play host to Minnesota Duluth Friday and St. Cloud State Saturday to start a four-game home stand.

NORTHERN STATE - Tydan Storrusten (6-3, 180, Jr., Pelican Rapids, Minn.) averaged 17.5 points, four rebounds and three assists per game over the weekend as the Wolves split their two games, losing to No. 12 Minnesota State and defeating Concordia-St. Paul. Storrusten shot 58.8 percent from the floor (10-for-17) on the weekend and went a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line.
Storrusten scored a team-high 20 points and pulled down seven boards in Northern’s loss Friday night to MSU. Tydan followed that performance up with 15 points and four assists while going 9-of-9 from the charity stripe in the Wolves’ victory over Concordia.

SIOUX FALLS - USF’s (6-8, 3-7 NSIC) struggles outside the Stewart Center continued last weekend, as the Cougars dropped league contests at Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State. On Friday night, the Cougars had no answer for the UMD senior guard duo of Peter Crawford (34 points) and Jordan Reetz (30), who combined to score as many points as the entire USF squad in as UMD rolled to an 86-64 victory to improve to 6-0 at home. Jordan Stotts finished 5-for-8 from the field to pace the Cougars with 13 points. Mahlon Jones had 11 points while Charles Ward and Mack Johnson each scored eight points. USF closed out the weekend with an 85-73 loss to the Huskies in front of an announced crowd of 1,501 in Halenbeck Hall. The Cougars — who led 10-2 early— shot 47.1 percent (51.9 percent in the second half) — but fell to 0-6 on the road thanks in large part to 16 turnovers that led to 23 points for St. Cloud State (11-3, 7-3), which improved to 8-0 at home and led the majority of the game despite shooting just 39.3 percent in the contest. Junior Charles Ward finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for the first double-double of the season for the Cougars. Derek Brown also scored 15 and Minnesota native Mack Johnson added 11. Bryan Kielpinski scored nine for USF, including a career-best 7-for-7 on free throws. Preston Rayburn had 8 and finished perfect from the field against the Huskies (3-for-3 FG). USF will host Upper Iowa and Winona State this weekend.

SMSU - Senior guard Vinard Birch (5-11, Eagan, Minn.) averaged 13.5 points, 5.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds, while shooting 12 of 16 (75.0) from the from the field in SMSU’s two-game road split versus St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. In Friday’s loss to St. Cloud State, Birch scored 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting with a game-high five assists. On Saturday, Birch scored 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting with five assists to pace SMSU to an 87-62 win over UMD. Birch leads SMSU with 70 assists on the season and is shooting 57 percent from the field and averaging 10.9 ppg. He has recorded 339 career assists – ranking second in school history – and is three shy of tying the school record.

ST. CLOUD STATE - St. Cloud State remained perfect on their home court as the Huskies swept Southwest Minnesota State, 91-83 and the University of Sioux Falls, 85-73, to go 8-0 at Halenbeck Hall this season. The Huskies are in a stretch where they play six of eight games at home. They hit the road this week for NSIC North re-matches against the University of Mary and Minot State. St. Cloud State is 2-3 on the road in the NSIC this season. Earlier this year St. Cloud Sate defeated Minot 97-73 and Mary 80-55. Matt Craggs (Sr., F, Kimberly, Wis.) posted the Huskies first double-double of the season in Friday’s win over SMSU with 17 points and a career high 12 rebounds. He made it two in a row Saturday with 15 points and ten rebounds against USF. Damarius Cruz (Sr., G, Plymouth, Minn.) scored a season high 25 points against SMSU and made 4-of-5 three-point attempts. The 25 points equaled his career high. Chris Larson (Sr., C, Hudson, Iowa) made six of nine field goal attempts and went six of eight from the free throw line to record his career high 18 points against SMSU. He scored six of those points in the final three minutes of the game to help the Huskies pull away from the Mustangs.
 
UPPER IOWA - Joey Woods (G, 6-2, 210, R-Sr., Naples, Fla./Golden Gate HS) scored a career-high 26 points, including 12 straight in the final 1:46 of regulation on Saturday en route to a 17-point, 7-assist average this past weekend. Woods made eight of his nine field goal attempts against the Marauders and his late-game heroics propelled his team to a 79-71 victory at home over U-Mary. The redshirt-senior earned 10 of his team-high 26 points from the charity stripe while adding a steal and a rebound in 26 minutes of work. A night earlier, UIU defeated Minot State, 88-71, and Woods proved he was more than just a scorer. The Naples, Florida native earned a career-high 8 assists in that game and the Peacocks never trailed the Beavers inside Dorman Gym. Over his last five games, Woods has shot at or above 50-percent (29-for-48) and has scored a total of 80 points. His new career mark of 26 points surpasses his previous mark of 24, which he had against SMSU two seasons ago.
Thanks to this past weekend’s sweep, Upper Iowa now sits at 5-5 in conference play. The Peacocks shot a blazing 57-percent from the floor on Friday night against the Beavers and UIU’s five freshmen scored a combined 57 points. Josh Weeber (C, Fr., 6-5, 215, Dubuque, Ia./Senior HS) led the bunch with 21 points, while Jimmy Roth (G, 6-5, 190, Fr., Marion, IA) had 16. UIU set three season-highs on in that game including a new record in field-goal percentage for a game (57-percent), total assists (20) and turnovers (14), while tying their season mark for blocked shots with four.  A night after blowing by Minot State, the Peacocks had their difficulties with U-Mary. Saturday night’s game featured 10 lead changes and 7 ties, but the Peacocks eventually emerged victorious. UIU will look to extend this win streak next weekend as the Peacocks take on Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State on the road.

WAYNE STATE - Seniors Jared Bartling and Ryan Rolfzen each scored 15 points to lead the Wayne State men in a 65-51 win over Minnesota Crookston Friday evening at Rice Auditorium.  The Wildcats finished the weekend with a split after Bemidji State shot 63 percent in the first half en route to a 69-46 win over Wayne State on Saturday.  Bartling tied his career high in scoring on Friday and grabbed a career-best 10 rebounds in Saturday’s game against Bemidji State.  Senior guard Adol Aluong scored a game-high 13 points against the Beavers while freshman guard Damjan Sredanovic added a career-high 12 points for WSC, now 7-7 on the season and 4-6 in the NSIC.  

WINONA STATE -  Kellen Taylor, F, Sr., 6-7, 215, Plymouth, Minn. (Wayzata) continued his run of outstanding play, averaging 15.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two Winona State victories last weekend. Taylor began with an impressive performance against U-Mary, scoring 20 points while grabbing nine rebounds. He followed with an 11-point, 12-rebound, six-assist effort against Minot State, recording his third double-double in his last four games. Taylor did his damage from all over the court, shooting 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the floor while also making three 3-pointers. Additionally, he was 8-of-12 from the free throw line. The senior averaged 4.0 assists on the weekend while also recording three steals and blocking a shot as the Warriors moved their win streak to 11 games.

Past NSIC Players of the Week
11/11/13    - Casey Schilling - Augie
11/18/13    - Sam Johnson - MISU
11/25/13    - Jordan Poydras - SCSU
12/2/13 -  E.J. Williams - MISU
12/9/13 - Maxie Rosenbloom - BSU
12/16/13    - Casey Schilling - Augie (2)
12/23/13 - Jake Schalow - BSU
1/6/14 -     Kellen Taylor - WSU
1/13/14 - Brock Lutes - BSU