For Immediate Release
Monday, Jan. 6, 2014

NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release

NSIC Player of the Week
#1 Kellen Taylor
G, 6-7, 215, SR.,
 Plymouth, Minn.
Wayzata HS
Winona State

Taylor posted double-doubles in both WSU games last weekend, averaging 14.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in Warrior wins over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. Taylor opened the weekend with 16 points, a career-best 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals in an overtime win over BSU. He followed with 13 points and 11 boards against UMC on Saturday. The senior was extremely efficient from the floor, going 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) in the two games. He connected on 12 of his 13 free throw attempts (92.3 percent) as well, including making seven of seven against Minnesota Crookston. Taylor ended the weekend averaging 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals while also blocking a shot as WSU moved its record to 13-2 overall and remained the lone unbeaten team in conference play with an 8-0 mark.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE -  #34 Daniel Jansen (F, 6-9, 230, So., Orange City, Iowa) hit two free throws with one second remaining in regulation sending the game to overtime and finished with a career-high 31 points as Augustana defeated U-Mary 75-68 on Friday night. Jansen also added 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double while blocking a career-high three shots and picking up three steals. He finished the game 9 of 16 from the field, matching his career-high with three 3-pointers, while making a career-high 10 free throws. The sophomore averaged 20 points and 8.5 rebounds on the weekend while shooting 46 percent from the field.

BEMIDJI STATE - #1 Brock Lutes (G, 6-4, 215, Jr., Portland, Ore. / Clackamas CC (Ore.)) averaged 20.5 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.2 percent from the field in a 1-1 NSIC home weekend. He posted 11 points and a season-high eight assists in an overtime loss to Winona State, but tied his season-high in points with 30 the next night against Upper Iowa. Against the Peacocks, the junior went 12-for-16 (75%) from the field, 2-for-2 from long range and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He also added eight rebounds and four assists. The 12 field goals made tied an NSIC-high this season, while he became the only player in the league in 2013-14 to have two 30-plus point performances. In 33.0 minutes per game he turned the ball over four times.
BSU went 1-1 in an NSIC home weekend Jan. 3-4. After falling to Winona State 87-86 in overtime Friday, the Beavers recorded their third 100-point game this season and second in three contests, as the squad defeated Upper Iowa 102-89. BSU shot 62.5 percent from the field for its second 60-plus percent shooting game in the last three contests. In league games this season, the Beavers rank second in field goal percentage, shooting at a 49.4 percent clip. BSU hits the road Jan .10-11 to battle Augustana College and Wayne State College. All-time, BSU is 5-8 against Augustana, but snapped a six-game losing streak to the Vikings last season with a 69-67 home win. BSU is 4-1 against WSC in the last five meetings, which includes first round victories in the NSIC Tournament the last two seasons.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Terez VanPelt averaged 18.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists over the weekend to help the Golden Bears to a split. In Friday’s win over Minnesota Duluth – Concordia’s first in NSIC play – VanPelt poured in 24 points despite being held to just two points for the first 19-plus minutes of play. He’s the league’s second leading scorer both overall (18.3) and in conference play (19.3).
Concordia head coach Kelly Boe moves into a tie for second place on Concordia’s all-time wins list with a 104-101 record in his eight seasons. He ties John Hendrickson (1973-84), who posted a 104-178 career mark for the then-Comets. Boe is also Concordia’s leader in career winning percentage (.507) in his 205 career games coached which ranks third in program history … this weekend Concordia returns to the road to face MSU Moorhead and Northern State … Concordia is 9-15 against MSU Moorhead but holds an 8-7 mark in the last 15 meetings … Concordia is 2-9 at Nemzek Arena but has won two of the last three trips to the Dragon Lair … Concordia’s last win at MSUM was Dec. 12, 2009 (76-54) … the Dragons have taken three of the last four in the series … coach Boe holds a 6-4 record against the Dragons … Concordia holds a 5-24 mark against the Wolves as Northern State has won the last three meetings in the series and is 16-0 against Concordia at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D. … coach Boe is 3-8 against the Wolves in his eight years … Concordia’s last win over Northern State was Feb. 19, 2011 at Gangelhoff Center (81-66).

UNIVERSITY OF MARY -  Damonta Henry (G, 6-0, 170, Fr., Chicago, Ill. / Riverside-Brookfield HS) scored a career-high 25 points for the University of Mary in a 75-68 overtime loss to Augustana. The freshman guard was 5-of-7 behind the arc and made 9-of-14 shots overall. Henry also connected on both his free throw attempts and added three assists. The Chicago native averaged 12.5 points per game for the weekend after going scoreless on Saturday... Devan Douglas (G, 6-3, 210, Jr., Clinton, Iowa / Clinton / Kirkwood College) led the Marauders with 11 points in a 66-57 loss to Wayne State College. The junior guard hit 5-of-7 shots and had two steals in the game. For the year Douglas is shooting 58.5 per cent from the field, the fifth best mark in the NSIC.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON  - The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball team fell 97-66 to Upper Iowa Friday and 88-52. The Golden Eagles were without leading scorer Ashton Harrell, who will likely miss the remainder of the season due to injury. Minnesota Crookston was led against the Peacocks by 21 points from senior forward Brandon Burns. Against Winona State, Derrick Redd earned his first start and led the team with 14 points. John Hughes also added a near double-double with eight points and eight boards.
The Golden Eagles will look to snap a six-game losing streak as they head to face Wayne State College and Augustana College next weekend. UMC is currently 4-8 (1-7 NSIC) entering next weekend’s action.
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH  - Minnesota Duluth stumbled out of the gate in the season’s second half, dropping a pair to Concordia-St. Paul and No. 14 Minnesota State. Senior guard Peter Crawford led the way both nights, scoring 19 on Friday and 16 on Saturday. He, along with fellow upperclassmen Jordan Reetz (Sr.) and Reece Zoelle (Jr.) continue to lead the Bulldogs’ scoring output. Reetz averages 15.8 per night, Zoelle an even 15.0, and Crawford 14.6 PPG. UMD continues to struggle on the road, where it remains without a victory, but are undefeated at home, where the Bulldogs return home to take on Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State this weekend.

MINNESOTA STATE - #50 Assem Marei (F, 6-9, 250, Jr., Cairo, Egypt) finished the week as MSU’s leading scorer averaging 17.5 points, to go along with an average of nine rebounds per game, in MSU’s wins over St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. He shot 58.8% (10-of-17) from the field and 75% (15-of-20) from the free throw line and led the team with five blocks. Against, SCSU Marei tallied 17 points and seven rebounds and followed up with an 18-point, 11-rebound showing against UMD. Against the Bulldogs, he tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds in the first half to record his 10th career double-double as a Maverick.
With its two wins this past weekend, the Mavericks improved to 13-2 on the season, including a mark of 7-1 in NSIC play. MSU is currently on a five-game winning streak. A total of six Mavericks averaged at least 11 points per game this past weekend, including junior Assem Marei, who led the team with an average of 17.5 points per game. Minnesota State averaged 93 points in its two wins this past weekend and shot 53.9 (62-of-115) from the field. MSU also shot 52.5% (21-of-40) from behind the three point line.

MSU MOORHEAD - Jordan Riewer (G, 6-2, Jr., Staples, Minn. /Staples-Motley HS) led the Dragons with a 14.0 points per game average during their road games at Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. Riewer had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in a tough 70-68 setback at SMSU on Saturday. The Dragons were down 20 in that game but came back to lead by four points before losing at the buzzer. For the week, Riewer averaged 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and also shot 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three-point range. Riewer is second on the team in scoring (11.3) this season. MSUM returns home for the first time since Dec. 14 when it faces Concordia-St. Paul on Friday. The Dragons are a perfect 7-0 this season, including 3-0 in NSIC games.

MINOT STATE - Minot State played two different styles of basketball games on the first weekend of the 2014 season, but unfortunately the Beavers came out on the short end of both. On Friday, MISU nearly led the entire way, before Wayne State tied the game with less than 10 seconds and prevailed in overtime 74-70. Saturday, it was the Beavers turn to rally late, cutting a nearly 20 point Augustana College lead to just eight with three minutes to play but could not get close, falling 80-67. #2 Chris East (F, 6-6, 210, Sr., Toronto, Ontario / Mother Theresa / ASA Institute) scored in double figures in both contests, hitting for a season-high 15 points against WSC. He moved to 483 career rebounds to sit just 17 shy of 500 points, 500 rebounds for MISU. #5 Dominique McDonald (G, 6-0, 175, So., Raleigh, N.C. / Wake Forest-Rolesville) also reached double figures both nights, and scored his season high against Wayne State with 14. He finished the weekend with 25 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and four steals. MISU takes its longest road trip this weekend as the Beavers play at Upper Iowa and Winona State.

NORTHERN STATE - The Northern State men’s basketball team rebounded nicely on Saturday after a rough night Friday, winning on the road over Sioux Falls 96-79. A night after their worst shooting performance of the season and scoring a season-low 44 points at Southwest Minnesota, Northern shot a season-best 62.5 percent (30-for-48) from the field and hit 10-of-14 from three-point range for a season-high 71.4 percent Saturday night. NSU’s 96 points are also a season-high. Skye Warwick led four Wolves in double figures with a game-high 17 points. Warwick went 6-for-7 from the floor and hit 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Warwick averaged 11.5 points per game over the weekend and was 7-for-11 from three-point land. Tydan Storrusten added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win. Storrusten went 10-for-12 from the line and also had a block and a steal. Storrusten averaged 3.5 assists against SMSU and USF. Northern returns home for a pair of games next weekend. No. 14 Minnesota State comes to town for an 8 p.m. showdown Friday. Concordia-St. Paul comes to Wachs Arena for a 7 p.m. tip Saturday. The Wolves are 1-2 against the Mavs under Head Coach Paul Sather and are 4-1 against CU.

SIOUX FALLS - The University of Sioux Falls men’s basketball team earned a split during its first weekend of competition versus NSIC North opponents, posting a decisive 92-70 win against MSU Moorhead before falling at home to intrastate rival Northern State, 96-79.  The Cougars maintained their .500 overall record (6-6) and sit at 3-5 in league action.  On Friday night, USF pounced on the Dragons with a late first half burst and pulled away late for a decisive 92-70 victory tonight at the Stewart Center. The win was the first in 27 days for USF and snapped a four-game NSIC losing streak.  The victory also stands as no. 1,000 for the USF men’s program (1,000-1,034). One game removed from a loss at SMSU where no USF player finished in double-digits for the first time in a decade, junior Charles Ward scored a game-high 21 points (6-for-12 FG, 8-for-9 FT)) to pace a quintet of Cougars in double-digits, while a total of nine players got a piece of the scoring action. Mahlon Jones had 17 points, while Derek Brown (15), Mack Johnson (12) and Jordan Stotts (11) helped USF improve to 6-1 when shooting 45% or better from the floor. The Cougars led 45-35 at intermission and Cutler Finneman’s layup made it 56-46 with less than 14 to play and the Dragons never got closer than ten after that. The Cougars shot 29-for-57 (50.9%) from the field and also inflicted significant damage from the stripe, where they shot a stellar 28-for-31 (90.3%). Less than 24 hours removed from trouncing MSU-Moorhead, the Cougars suffered a disappointing 96-79 loss to Northern State. The Cougars only led once, when junior guard Charles Ward knocked down his first of two 3-pointers with 19:28 remaining in the first half.  A Northern State squad that managed just 43 points in Friday’s blow-out loss at Southwest Minnesota State shot a lights-out 63 percent in the first half and led the Cougars 46-35 at intermission. Out of the break, the Cougars scored three straight buckets to pull within five at 46-41 and force NSU head coach Paul Sather to call a timeout. His Wolves squad responded with a 12-5 tear to extend their scoreboard advantage to 58-46 with nearly 16 minutes left in the game. NSU would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way and led by 20 at 96-76 before Ward hit a triple in the closing seconds to create the final margin.  The Cougars travel to Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State this weekend.

SMSU - Senior center Nick Smith (6-9, Johnston, Iowa) averaged 16.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and shot 44.4 percent (12 of 27) from the field and 90 percent (9 of 10) from the foul line in two SMSU victories last weekend. In the process, Smith also became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 career points during SMSU’s win over MSU Moorhead on Saturday. In Friday’s win over Northern State, Smith scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while in SMSU’s win over MSU Moorhead, Smith poured in 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his first double-double of his career.  Smith has now scored 1,015 career points in 100 career games.

ST. CLOUD STATE - St. Cloud State bounced back from a 97-77 Friday night loss at Minnesota State University with a 70-66 win over Concordia-St. Paul Saturday night to salvage a road split to open the new year. Connor Niehaus (Jr., F, Fremont, Neb.) made two free throws with 1.9 seconds on the clock to seal the Huskies win over CSP. Niehaus had 11 points and nine rebounds in the game, both equaled his career highs. On Friday he also accounted for 11 points.  Jordan Poydras (So., G, De Pere, Wis.) scored in double figures in both weekend games. He scored 11 on Friday and added 16 on Saturday. Matt Craggs (Sr., F, Kimberly, Wis.) scored 28 points and 12 rebounds over the weekend. St. Cloud State returns home on Jan. 10-11 with games against Southwest Minnesota State and the University of Sioux Falls. The Huskies are 36-19 all-time against the Mustangs in a series that began in 1969-70.  Last season the Huskies defeated SMSU 71-69 in Marshall. The Huskies have won four straight over the Cougars and are 6-1 all-time since the 1986-87 season.
 
UPPER IOWA - Upper Iowa dominated Friday night’s NSIC cross-division battle with the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston, 97-66. Twelve different Peacocks found the net with four scoring in double-figures. Josh Weeber (C, Fr., 6-5, 215, Dubuque, Ia./Senior HS) led UIU with 19 points, while Grant Lang (G, 6-4, 195, Jr. Ankeny, Iowa/Akeny HS) and Joey Woods (G, 6-2, 210, R-Sr., Naples, Fla./Golden Gate HS) combined for 28. The team connected on a season-high 13 three-pointers en route to an NSIC-best 97 points. It was a different story a night later against Bemidji State despite the Peacocks connecting on 13 trifectas again. BSU shot a red-hot 63-percent from the floor and owned a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half. UIU set a new season high with 11 steals and tied a season-high by forcing 20 BSU turnovers but the Beavers kept shooting. BSU finished the night with a 53-percent mark from downtown and sealed the 102-89 victory in Minnesota. The Peacocks will look to get back in the win column this Friday night as they host their first game of 2014 against Minot State at 8 p.m. inside Dorman Gym.

WAYNE STATE - Adol Aluong, a 6-1 senior guard from Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Roosevelt HS), averaged a team-high 13.5 points per game in two Wildcat road wins over the weekend at Minot State and University of Mary.  Aluong accounted for 11 points, making 7 of 8 free throws, in Friday’s 74-70 overtime win at Minot State and followed that with a game-high 16 points, including a perfect 7 of 7 at the foul line, in the Wildcats’ 66-57 win over the University of Mary.  For the weekend, Aluong was 6 of 15 from the field and 14 for 15 (.933) at the charity stripe while also averaging 3.0 rebounds per contest.

WINONA STATE -  Kellen Taylor, F, Sr., 6-7, 215, Plymouth, Minn. (Wayzata) posted double-doubles in both WSU games last weekend, averaging 14.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in Warrior wins over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. Taylor opened the weekend with 16 points, a career-best 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals in an overtime win over BSU. He followed with 13 points and 11 boards against UMC on Saturday. The senior was extremely efficient from the floor, going 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) in the two games. He connected on 12 of his 13 free throw attempts (92.3 percent) as well, including making seven of seven against Minnesota Crookston. Taylor ended the weekend averaging 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals while also blocking a shot as WSU moved its record to 13-2 overall and remained the lone unbeaten team in conference play with an 8-0 mark.

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