G, 6-1, 170, Sr.,
Portland, Ore.
Century HS
Augustana

Cameron McCaffrey poured in a career-high 40 points leading Augustana to a 85-78 win over the University of Mary on Friday night. McCaffrey matched his career-high with six 3-pointers and handed out a career-seven assists in the contest. On Saturday, McCaffrey finished with 15 points against Minot State and moved into eighth on the all-time scoring list at Augustana having scored 1,637career points. Earlier in the week McCaffrey scored 19 points while dishing outfive assists in a one-point loss at Wayne State. Over the three-game stretch, McCaffrey averaged 24.7 points while shooting 46 percent (24 of 52) from the field and 90 percent (19 of 21) from the free throw line and dishing out 5.7assist per game.

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - #1 Cameron McCaffrey (G, Sr., 6-1, 170, Portland,Ore./Century HS) poured in a career-high 40 points leading Augustana to a 85-78 win over the University of Mary on Friday night. McCaffrey matched his career-high with six 3-pointers and handed out a career-seven assists in the contest. On Saturday, McCaffrey finished with 15 points against Minot State and moved into eighth on the all-time scoring list at Augustana having scored 1,637career points. Earlier in the week McCaffrey scored 19 points while dishing outfive assists in a one-point loss at Wayne State. Over the three-game stretch, McCaffrey averaged 24.7 points while shooting 46 percent (24 of 52) from the field and 90 percent (19 of 21) from the free throw line and dishing out 5.7assist per game. 

BEMIDJI STATE - #2 Lance Rongstad (G/F, 6-3, 205, Sr., Eleva, Wis. / Eleva-Strum HS) recorded 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in a 1-2 NSIC road week for the Beavers. He shot 48.8 percent from the field, went 8-for-17 (47.1%) from 3-point land and 16-for-20 (80%) from the charity stripe in the three games. After a season-high 26 points in a 75-58 victory at University of Minnesota, Crookston Tuesday, Rongstad needed just 18 points at Winona State University Friday to become the 16th player in Bemidji State program history to reach the 1,000 point mark in a career. With a 3-pointer early in the second half, the senior accomplished the feat and went on to score 24 points for his third straight game with 20 or more points. He scored 14 Saturday to tie for the team lead – his fourth straight game leading the team in scoring. In the last four games, Rongstad has increased his season point total from 6.9 to 10.5 points per game.
BSU posted a 1-2 record Jan. 15-19 and owns an 8-8 overall record with a 6-6 NSIC mark that is good for fourth in the NSIC North standings. Tuesday, the Beavers defeated University of Minnesota, Crookston 75-58 behind 26 points from senior Lance Rongstad. BSU couldn’t keep the wins coming on road Friday and Saturday and lost at Winona State University in a nail-bitter, 70-67. The loss moved the Beavers’ record in games decided by five or less points to 1-3 this season. An 81-67 loss at Upper Iowa University the next night moved BSU’s road record to 3-6 in 2012-13. Rongstad followed Tuesday’s performance with 24 points and in the process became Bemidji State’s 16th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point mark in a career. He added 14 Saturday to tie for the team lead and make it four straight games leading the team in scoring. He has averaged 21.3 points per game in his last four contests to increase his season average from 6.9 to 10.5 points per game. The Beavers defend a 4-1 home record Jan. 25-26 when Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State University visit Bemidji. BSU fell to MSUM on the road 82-48 Jan. 5 and have lost its last six games to the Dragons. All-time the Beavers are 81-90 against MSU Moorhead and haven’t beat the Dragons at home since Feb. 2, 2008 (70-54). BSU fell to Northern State 64-61 on the road Jan. 4 after owning a 61-58 lead with 1:26 remaining. The Beavers are 24-55 all-time against NSU and are 2-3 in the last five meetings. At home last season, BSU won 88-59.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - #25 Terez VanPelt (G, 6-1, 165, So., Osseo, Minn./HS) averaged 20.0 points in three games last, helping the Golden Bears to their first victory on Friday night at Minnesota Duluth. VanPelt also averaged 5.0 assists in the three games and is also third in the league in distributing. For the week, VanPelt made 22-of-23 at the line (.957) and had a string of 30 consecutive made free throws come to a close, a streak spanning nearly five full games. In Concordia’s win, VanPelt scored 18 points and had seven assists, while topping 20 points in each of the team’s two losses (22 vs Minnesota State, 20 vs St. Cloud State). He’s scored at least 13 points in every game, and had at least three assists in all but one game this year. He’s now put up nine 20-plus point games.
The Golden Bears continue to shine at the line, making 86.7% (58-of-67) in three games last week including a 22-of-23 (.957) effort in their win at UMD on Friday … this weekend, the Golden Bears are at home on Friday against Augustana (8-4) and Wayne State (6-6) … the Golden Bears went 0-2 on a trip to Wayne, Neb. and Sioux Falls, S.D. earlier this month, leading late in both games before dropping close losses … the Golden Bears are 5-9 all-time against Augustana but have dropped four of the last five in the series and seven of the last nine … the Golden Bears are 4-3 against the Vikings at Gangelhoff Center, winning last year 81-77 … Concordia is 14-14 all-time against Wayne State but has lost four straight to the Wildcats … at home, Concordia is 9-5 against WSC but has lost two straight at Gangelhoff Center … prior to the four straight losses to WSC, Concordia had won nine of the previous 10 contests.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY - Alex Dorr (F, 6-6, 205, Sr., Norwalk, IA / Iowa State), in three games last week, averaged nearly a double double, scoring 16.0 points and hauling down 9.0 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 62.5 per cent behind the arc (5-of-8), made 9-of-11 free throws and distributed 2.3 assists. After opening with nine points and eight rebounds in a loss at Minot State, Dorr followed up with 17 points, six rebounds, a season-high four assists and a 3-of-5 effort on three-pointers in a loss at Augustana. Dorr closed the week with 22 points and 13 rebounds at Wayne State, hitting both trey and all four free throw attempts in the game. Dorr leads the NSIC in rebounding/game (8.6), is second in free throw shooting percentage (.911), sixth in three-pointers made/game (2.13), 10th in scoring/game (14.7) and 11th in three point shooting percentage (.430)… Jalen Jaspers (G, 6-3, 200, Jr., Minneapolis, MN / De la Salle HS) tied his career-high in points and recorded his first double double at Minot State. He posted 19 points and 10 rebounds while scoring the Marauders last nine points of the evening. Clutch down the stretch, he made his last four shots and final two free throws in the game. Jaspers followed up with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists at Augie. He averaged 12.7 points and 6.7 assists over the three games… Brandon Tyler (G/F, 6-4, 195, Fr., Oshkosk, WI) exploded for a career-high 18 points at Augustana, draining six treys in nine attempts.

MINNESOTA, CROOKSTON  -  Ashton Harrell (Jr., G, Houston, Texas) averaged 10.0 points in three games last week against Upper Iowa, Winona State and Bemidji State. Harrell tallied 15 points in a hard-fought 64-53 loss to Winona State Saturday. Harrell had nine points during a 14-0 UMC run that saw the Golden Eagles get out to a 23-17 lead over the Warriors in the first half. Harrell had eight points on 3-of-5 shooting against the Peacokcs Friday. Tuesday against the Beavers, the junior guard put up seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
The Golden Eagles will look to snap a winless NSIC season as they host Northern State Friday and MSU Moorhead Saturday. UMC is led on the season by junior college transfer Brandon Burns (Jr., F, Baton Rouge, La.). Burns is averaging 11.5 points per game to lead all scorers.

MINNESOTA DULUTH  - The Bulldogs lost three games at home during the week despite bringing a solid team effort in both games over the weekend. Following Tuesday’s loss to St. Cloud State, UMD forced overtime late Friday night against Concordia-St. Paul behind a huge second half from junior center Brett Ervin – who matched a career-high with 27 points. The Bulldogs would eventually fall to the Golden Bears in overtime and gave No. 7 MSU-Mankato a scare on Saturday evening (holding a one-point halftime lead) but could not hang on for the upset win. UMD will hit the road this weekend for conference engagements at Mary and Minot State. 

MINNESOTA STATE -  Assem Marei (F, 6-9, So., Cairo, Egypt) led the Mavericks in scoring and rebounds through their three road wins this past week. He finished the week averaging 19 points and eight rebounds a contest, while connecting on 21-of-36 (58.3) shots from the field. He also tallied six assists, three blocks and two steals. Against CU Marei put in a team-high 18 points, to go along with eight rebounds. Against SCSU he tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double double of the season. He finished his week with a game-high 19 points against UMD.
Minnesota State finished its week with a 3-0 record with wins on the road at Concordia (86-70), St. Cloud State (81-75) and Minnesota Duluth (73-65). Assem Marei and Jarvis Williams led the Mavericks in scoring this past week averaging 19 and 14.3 points per game, respectively. Zach Monaghan passed out a team-high 14 assists this past week and tallied a team-high seven assists. MSU connected on 92-of-177 (52%) shots from the field. The Mavericks posted 23 steals during the week, while their opponents only tallied 11. MSU outrebounded its opponents 106-79 in its three wins this past week.

MSU MOORHEAD - Anthony Tucker (G, 6-4, Sr., Burnsville, Minn. / Minnetonka HS) averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds for the Dragons during a 1-1 week.  He scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting in an 86-82 overtime loss to SMSU on Jan. 19. It was Tucker’s third 30-point game of the season. For the week, Tucker shot 57.8 percent from the field (22-of-38).
Senior Alex Novak had three solid games for the Dragons. He had a team-best 18 points in an 80-53 rout of Sioux Falls on Jan. 18. A night later, he recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds in the overtime loss to SMSU. For the week he averaged 13.0 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

MINOT STATE - Minot State University used a solid defensive effort and excellent offensive balance in going 2-1 during the week. The Beavers held the University of Mary to 47 points and a 49-47 win Tuesday. Next, MISU limited Wayne State College to 61 points in a 64-61 road win and finally fell just short of another road upset with a 72-70 loss to Augustana College. During the week, the Beavers had seven different players score in double figures at least once. Against U-Mary, Minot State got a huge block from senior #4 Kelvin Fraser (F, 6-9, Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y. / International Business School / Imperial Valley College) as time ran out to preserve the win. Fraser has 32 block on the season to lead the team. The Saturday game featured a 50-point second half by Minot State, the biggest half of the season in NSIC games. #24 Josh Johnson (F, 6-5, Sr., Lufkin, Texas / Lufkin High School / Cedar Valley College) returned to the lineup to average 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds for the week to pace the Beavers. #10 Adam Randall (So., 6-3, G, Steele, N.D. / Kidder County) had a team-high 14 points against U-Mary and finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds on the week. #0 Dominique McDonald (Fr., 6-0, G, Raleigh, N.C. / Wake Forest-Rolesville) was again steady at the point finishing the week with 28 points, 12 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

NORTHERN STATE - Mack Arvidson (G, 6-2, 165, Fr., Grand Forks, N.D./Red River HS) canned three treys and was 5-for-6 overall from the field - including a dunk in traffic in the closing minutes - en-route to 17 points off the bench in Saturday night’s 74-60 win over Sioux Falls.  Arvidson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the effort, his best since putting up 20 points in the season opener.  The freshman also had a trio of three-pointers and 11 points in a Friday night setback to Southwest Minnesota State.  For the week, including Tuesday night’s road win over MSU Moorhead, Arvidson averaged 10.3 points per game while shooting a blistering 63.6 percent from long range (7-for-11).

SIOUX FALLS - #34 David Maxwell (F, 6-5, 215, Sr., Parkston, S.D.) reached another career milestone, surpassing the 900-career points mark, as he led Sioux Falls in scoring in consecutive games over the weekend. He shot 50% (5-of-10) from the field in an 11-point performance at Minnesota State University Moorhead Friday night, where the Cougars shot 35% as a team. Saturday night, Maxwell led USF with 14 points, his second-highest scoring total this season, against in-state rival Northern State University. He went an impressive 5-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 at the charity stripe. Saturday also marked his second-straight game with a 3-point field goal. He entered the weekend with just four 3-point makes total this season. Following a three-game week, Maxwell holds career scoring and rebounding totals of 909 points and 488 rebounds as a Cougar. The Cougars went 1-2 last week, dropping their seventh-consecutive game on the road. USF returns home January 25-26 to host Winona State University and Upper Iowa University.

SMSU - Senior guard Tramel Barnes (6-1, Watson, Minn.) had an impressive week, leading SMSU to a 2-1 record in three road games.  Barnes, who began the week averaging just 5.3 ppg and 4.2 rpg, averaged 9.3 points and 5.0 rebounds in the three games, while shooting 81.8 percent (9 of 11) from the field and a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line.  Playing a total of 93 minutes, Barnes dished out 10 assists and had just two turnovers with four steals and one blocked shot during the week. Barnes had eight points and seven rebounds in SMSU’s win at Northern State on Friday night, then scored a season-high 14 points with six rebounds in SMSU’s overtime victory at MSU Moorhead.

ST. CLOUD STATE -  Damarius Cruz (Jr., G, Robbinsdale, Minn.) averaged 14 points, shot 56.7 percent (17-30) from the field and 53.3 percent (8-15) from three-point range as the Huskies posted a 2-1 NSIC record last week. Cruz had 18 points on seven of ten shooting from the field and made four of six three-point attempts in the Huskies 81-75 loss to #8 Minnesnota State. The 18 points was his second highest point total of the season. He has scored in double figures in five straight games. Cruz had 12 points in each of the Huskies two wins, 81-66 at Minnesota Duluth and 97-60 against Concordia-St. Paul.
St. Cloud State is coming off a home split against a pair of NSIC South Division teams, losing to #8 Minnesota State University 81-75 and rebounding with a 97-60 win over Concordia-St. Paul. The loss to MSU was the second home loss of the season for the Huskies. SCSU is 3-1 against South division teams. Damarius Cruz (Jr., G, Robbinsdale, Minn.) averaged 15 points, was 12 of 19 from the field and six of 11 from three-point range over the weekend. Cruz has scored in double figures in five straight games. The guard duo of Shaun Jensen (Sr., G, Spring Lake Park, Minn.)  and Cruz has combined for 152 points over the last five games.St. Cloud State hits the road for the first of two straight weekends in the NSIC. The Huskies head to North Dakota this week with games at Minot State and the University of Mary. This is the second meeting of the year for these teams. The Huskies opened 2013 with a 92-64 win over Mary but fell to Minot State 68-62 the following night. In the win over Mary, Kevin Levandoski (So., G, Appleton, Wis.) collected a school single game record nine steals.

UPPER IOWA - Sam Elgin (W, 6-6, 198, Sr., Center Point, Iowa) averaged 15.3 points while leading the Peacocks to a 2-1 week in the NSIC including a weekend sweep of Minnesota, Crookston and Bemidji State.  UIU lost their Tuesday night battle with Winona State.  Elgin shot 47% (16-34) from the floor including 6 three-pointers; the UIU senior also hit all 8 of his free throws while pulling down 3.3 rebounds per game.  The Center Point, Iowa native scored a team-high 27 on Saturday versus Bemidji State.
The Peacocks averaged over 70 points this week despite a 53-point output against Winona State.  Upper Iowa shot 50.3% for the week even though they were just 12-43 (27.9%) from beyond the arc.  Jake Hughes averaged 12.3 points and 5.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game, while Tucker Wentzien added 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds.  UIU will head to Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night for an 8 p.m. tip and then travel to Sioux Falls for an 8 p.m. start on Saturday.

WAYNE STATE - LaTroy Wright, a 6-4 junior guard from Greensburg, Indiana (Olney Central College), averaged a team-best 15.3 points to go with 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.7 steals per game in helping the Wildcats go 2-1 in three home NSIC games during the week.  Wright’s top game was on Tuesday where he scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half while also recording five steals in Tuesday’s 64-63 win over Augustana.  He also scored 15 points in Friday’s 64-61 loss to Minot State and had 10 points with four rebounds and three steals in a 60-54 win Saturday against the University of Mary.  For the week, Wright shot 46.7 percent from the field (14 of 30) and was 17 for 21 (.810) at the free throw stripe.

WINONA STATE -  Clayton Vette (C. 6-9, Sr., Waverly, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock) had three monster games, averaging 22.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as Winona State earned victories over Upper Iowa, Bemidji State and Minnesota, Crookston. Vette shot 65% (26-of-40) in the three games while also making 14 of his 22 free throws. After scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds against Upper Iowa Tuesday, Vette exploded during the weekend with 30 points against BSU, just one off his career high. The senior recorded a double-double in the game, grabbing ten rebounds. He was 11-of-16 from the floor on the night. Vette followed with 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting the next night against UMC. Vette anchored the WSU defense as well, blocking four shots and recording six steals on the week.

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
1/14/13: Zach Monahgan - MSU
1/21/13: Cameron McCaffrey - Augie

#NSIC#