For Immediate Release
Monday, Feb. 24, 2014

NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release

NSIC Player of the Week
#10 Jordan Poydras
G, 6-3, 170, So.,
De Pere, Wis.
De Pere HS
St. Cloud State

Poydras scored a game-high 30 points in the Huskies convincing 92-60 win over Bemidji State and helped the Huskies into a three-way tie for first place in the NSIC North. Poydras  was nine-of-15 (53.8%) from the field, made a season high five three-point baskets (equals his career high) and was seven-of-seven from the free throw line.  Poydras made three straight three-point baskets early in the second half. He completed his line score with six assists and three steals. It marked his third 30+ point game of the season.  He also led the Huskies in scoring in a 78-66 win over Minnesota Crookston. For the weekend he scored 46 points, had seven rebounds, 11 assists and eight steals. He was seven-of-14 from three-point range and made 11 of 13 free throws.  Poydras has handed out 32 assists over the last six games.This marks the second time this season Poydras has been named NSIC Player of the Week (11/25/13).

NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament
The 2013-14 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament bracket has been released as the 22-game regular season ended Saturday night.  Minnesota State won the NSIC Overall and South Division Championships and will be the top seed in the south division.  MSU Moorhead, Bemidji State and St. Cloud State all tied for the north division title, but MSUM earned the No. 1 seed in the north division followed by BSU second seed and SCSU third. The top four teams in each division will host the 5-8 teams from the opposite division on Wednesday, February 26.  The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship will take place on March 1-4 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
NSIC / Sanford Health Tournament Website
#NSICTourney

AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - AUGUSTANA COLLEGE - #34 Daniel Jansen (F, 6-9, 230, So., Orange City, Iowa/MOC-Floyd Vallley HS) averaged 28 points and eight rebounds as Augustana split a pair of road games on the final weekend of regular season play. Jansen started off the weekend with his fifth double-double of the season scoring a career-high 37 points to go along with 11 rebounds. The sophomore had a big second half and overtime, scoring 27 of his 37 points in the second half and overtime. He finished the game 13 of 18 from the free throw line, setting a new career high in free throws made. Jansen has now scored 30-plus points in a game twice in his career, both coming this season. He continued his streak of steady play pitching in with 19 points and five rebounds going 6 of 14 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range in a win over Winona State on Friday night. Jansen is averaging 25 points and seven rebounds over the last five games for the Vikings.  

BEMIDJI STATE - The Beavers went 0-2 in the regular season finale, but finished the NSIC season with a 15-7 (18-8 overall) record to earn a share of the NSIC North Division Championship. The Beavers entered the weekend with a two-game lead for the title, but fell on the road at Minnesota Duluth, 81-65 and St. Cloud State, 92-60. BSU shared the championship with SCSU and MSU Moorhead and earned the No. 2 seed in the NSIC/Sanford Health Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Beavers will host Wayne State in the first round of the tournament for the third consecutive season (BSU won the previous two tournament meetings). Bemidji State is 19-26 all-time against the Wildcats. BSU is 5-1 in the last six meetings, which includes a 69-46 road win earlier this season. In that win, junior Brock Lutes totaled 25 points. Lutes finished the conference season with 22.2 points per game to earn the scoring title. Senior Maxie Rosenbloom finished with a league-leading 9.5 rebounds per game and shot an NSIC-best 62.1 percent from the field. Senior Jake Schalow had the best shooting percentage from 3-point land with 55.0 percent.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL - Junior point guard Terez VanPelt finds himself just 22 points shy of recording the sixth 500-plus point season in program history including his second in a row … he surpassed 1,200 career points over the weekend (1,209), moving into ninth in program history and he is one of just two players in Concordia history to score 1,200 points and dish 250-plus assists (254) … he also holds the single-season free throws made record (166) and career record (361) and has made a career-best 33-straight free throws … senior Cordell Smith registered his third career double-double and second of the season with a 25-point, 10-rebound performance in an overtime loss at Sioux Falls on Saturday with the 25 points tying his career high.
Concordia tied with Wayne State for seventh in the final NSIC South Division Standings, but is the eighth seed in the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament due to head-to-head tie breaker with WSC getting the season sweep … Concordia will travel to top seed MSU Moorhead on Wednesday, Feb. 26 for a 7 p.m. tip at Nemzek Hall … Concordia is 2-10 all-time in the NSIC Tournament with its last tournament win being a first round game over Wayne State in the 2007 Tournament (2006-07 season) at Gangelhoff Center.
The Golden Bears are 10-16 all-time against the Dragons with all 26 prior meetings coming after Concordia joined the NSIC and Division II ranks in 1999-00 … Concordia is just 3-10 all-time at Nemzek Hall with two straight losses in the Dragon Lair … Concordia’s last win at MSUM was Dec. 12, 2009 (76-54) which was their second-straight in the arena … in the recent series, it’s been all Dragons as MSUM has captured four wins in the last five meetings following a stretch in which Concordia had won six out of seven.

UNIVERSITY OF MARY -  Damonta Henry (G, 6-0, 170, Fr., Chicago, Ill. / Riverside-Brookfield) produced his strongest weekend performance of the season, averaging 18.0 points per game while shooting 63.2 per cent from the floor and making 10-of-16 three pointers in the two games. The freshman guard scored 20 points and made 6-of-8 three-point attempts in a 72-69 loss at Northern State. Overall he made 7-of-10 shots in the game. He hit five straight treys at one point and nearly sent the game to overtime but his three-pointer rimmed out after going halfway down. The Chicago, Ill., native closed his first regular season with 16 points in a 95-94 overtime loss at MSU Moorhead. He was 4-of-8 on trey attempts and added two assists... Chris Mason (G, 6-5, 200, Jr., Phoenix, Ariz. / St. Mary’s / Phoenix College) scored a career-high 29 points in the regular season finale at MSU Moorhead. The junior guard was 11-of-17 from the field and 5-of-8 on three-pointers. He also had six rebounds. Mason has hit double figures in each of his last five games... Bryan Jefferson (F, 6-7, 200, Fr., Aurora, Ill. / Waubonsie Valley) closed out his freshman regular season by reaching double figures the last three games. At Northern State he scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four rebounds. He was even better at MSUM, scoring a career-high 15 points by making 5-of-6 shots. The Illinois native also had six rebounds... The Marauders (6th seed North) will open the 2014 NSIC / Sanford Health Men’s Basketball Tournament at Southwest Minnesota State (3rd seed South) at 7 PM on Wednesday, February 26. The Marauders defeated the Mustangs 74-65 in Bismarck on Valentine’s Day in the only matchup of the season between the two teams. SMSU holds a 9-2 edge in the series.

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON  - Derrick Redd, Jr. (So., G, Menifee, Calif.) had a big weekend for the Golden Eagles averaging 19 points per game with 2.5 rebounds per game, as well. Redd tied his season high with 23 points Friday against St. Cloud State on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and 2-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Saturday, the sophomore guard tallied 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting in a loss to University of Minnesota Duluth. Redd has been very productive for the Golden Eagles since the season-ending injury to Ashton Harrell (Sr., G, Houston, Texas. He averaged 12.2 points per game in the last 16 games for the Golden Eagles after averaging just 7.4 points per game in the first 10.
UMC  will be the No. 8 seed in the NSIC North and will face the No. 1 seed in the South, Minnesota State University, Mankato, Wed., Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. at the Taylor Center. The game will be the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. The winner of the game will advance to take on the winner of Northern State University/Augustana College (S.D.) Sat., March 1 at 8:30 p.m.

MINNESOTA DULUTH  - UMD closed out the regular season with a pair of wins at Romano Gym, finishing the regular season with four more wins than a year ago and four more conference wins, as well. The Bulldogs will look to extend their season against Upper Iowa in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament in a rematch from just 10 days ago when the Peacocks edged UMD 87-85 in Fayette.
Senior guard Jordan Reetz willed the Bulldogs to 81-65 upset victory over Bemidji State on Friday night with a 35-point effort and added 16 points in a dominant 84-54 revenge win over MInnesota Crookston on Saturday, picking up fellow senior Peter Crawford who was limited to just 3 points on the night. Reetz shot 61.8 percent (21-of-34), including 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. He hauled in seven rebounds and had three assists, three steals, and a block on the weekend.
Junior guard Reece Zoelle posted a pair of 20-point games for UMD, hauling in a team-high 14 rebounds while going 6-of-9 from three-point range. Freshman guard Treyton Daniels had his season’s best game with nine points against Minnesota Crookston, while freshman Jake Wilson had another strong game off the bench with eight points against the Golden Eagles. As a squad, UMD shot 53.9 percent for the weekend.

MINNESOTA STATE - #42 Connor O’Brien (F, 6-7, 210, Sr., New Prague, Minn./New Prague) finished the week averaging 18 points and eight rebounds per game. He connected on 70.6% (12-of-17) of his shots from the field. He also shot 80% (12-of-15) from the free throw line. He began the week setting a new career-high with 27 points against Sioux Falls. He shot 10-of-12 (.833) from the field against the Cougars to go along with eight rebounds. He followed up with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists in MSU’s win against Southwest Minnesota State.
Minnesota State finished its regular season with a 25-4 record as it won its second straight NSIC Championship with a 19-3 league record.
As a team, MSU shot 54.4% from the field, while averaging 39.5 rebounds per game. The Mavericks had four players average 18 points or more during the weekend, including junior Assem Marei and senior Tanner Adler who both averaged 18.5 points per game. MSU will take on Minnesota Crookston in the first round of the NSIC Tournament Wednesday in Taylor  Center. The opening tip is set for 8 p.m.

MSU MOORHEAD - Tyler Vaughan (G, 6-1, So., Braham, Minn. / Braham HS) had an outstanding week in helping the Dragons to two big home wins, which wrapped up MSUM’s first conference title in 32 years. Vaughan averaged 20 points per game along with 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Vaughan had 14 points, three rebounds and three assists in the Dragons’ 85-55 win over Minot State on Friday. A night later, he followed with a career-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting in the Dragons’ thrilling 95-94 overtime win over Mary on Saturday. Vaughan’s three-point play with 25 seconds left in overtime gave the Dragons a one-point lead which stood at the buzzer. Vaughan shot 61.9 percent (13-of-21) for the week and also shot 84.6 percent (11-of-13) from the foul line. The two wins also gave MSUM the No. 1 seed out of the NSIC’s North Division.

MINOT STATE - Minot State University ended the regular season portion of the Northern Sun schedule with a pair of losses, falling at Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State. The way the Beavers lost, however, was in complete contrast. MSUM rolled over Minot State 85-55 Friday, but the Beavers bounced back and pushed Northern State for 30 of the 40 minutes, before NSU pulled away for a 73-58 win. #5 Dominique McDonald (G, 6-0, 175, So., Raleigh, N.C. / Wake Forrest-Rolesville) has a solid weekend, pacing the Beavers with 18 points Saturday and scored 26 total points with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. # 0 Samuel Johnson (F, 6-6, 200, Sr., Las Vegas, Nev. / Legacy / Montana State-Billings) reached double figures Saturday and scored 25 points with 11 rebounds total on the weekend. Reserve guard #24 Isiah Gandy (G, 6-1, 180, Sr., West Palm Beach, Fla. / Boys Town / Nebraska Omaha) came off the bench to net 20 total points, including 13 to lead the Beavers on Friday. Minot State finished the season in seventh in the NSIC North and will travel to Winona State Wednesday for the first round of the NSIC Tournament.

NORTHERN STATE - A strong second half by the Northern State men’s basketball team helped propel the Wolves to a regular season-ending 73-58 win over Minot State Saturday night in Aberdeen. Northern clinches the fourth seed in the NSIC North Division and will host Augustana Wednesday night at 8 p.m. in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. Augie clinched the fifth seed in the south with its victory at Winona State Saturday. NSU beat the Vikings in an 85-78 thriller a week ago. The winner of Wednesday’s contest will face the winner of Minnesota State and Minnesota, Crookston Saturday at 8:30 p.m. down at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

SIOUX FALLS - #11 Derek Brown (G, 6-0, 180, Sr.,  Clark, S.D. / Clark HS) made sure to make the final home weekend of his college career a memorable one. The 6-foot senior shooting guard from Clark (S.D.) averaged 28 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals during USF’s Senior Day weekend split versus No. 17 Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. Brown shot a combined 15-for-29 from the floor (51.7%), converted 10 of his 20 three-point attempts (50%) and went 16-for-17 (94.1%) at the charity stripe. Brown drained his first two three-pointers against the nationally-ranked Mavericks and finished with a then-career high 24 points to go with two rebounds, three assists and a steal as the Cougars dropped a 103-101 heartbreaker to No. 17 Minnesota State.  
The Cougars finish their second season in the NSIC with a 12-10 record (15-11 overall), falling just short in their bid to gain a home playoff date. They will travel to St. Cloud State for Wednesday’s NSIC tournament opener, needing a win to punch their ticket to the Pentagon. Derek Brown enters the postseason ranked second all-time in program history with 191 three-pointers and need just three triples to surpass Ryan Coapstick (2001-03, 193) for the right to be known as the top sniper in Cougar history.

SMSU - Senior guard Vinard Birch (5-11, Eagan, Minn.) averaged 15.5 points, 5.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds, while also hitting a game-winning shot, in SMSU’s final regular season weekend. Birch scored a team-high 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting with five assists and three steals and hit the game-winning layup with 2.2 seconds left in SMSU’s 69-67 victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Friday night. In SMSU’s loss to No. 17 Minnesota State, Birch scored 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting with five assists and two steals. Birch leads the team this season with 122 assists and ranks second on the team averaging 11.3 ppg. He is the program’s all-time leader in assists with 391 and has scored 944 career points.

ST. CLOUD STATE - Jordan Poydras (So., G, De Pere, Wis.) scored a game-high 30 points in the Huskies convincing 92-60 win over Bemidji State and helped the Huskies into a three-way tie for first place in the NSIC North. Poydras  was nine-of-15 (53.8%) from the field, made a season high five three-point baskets (equals his career high) and was seven-of-seven from the free throw line.  Poydras made three straight three-point baskets early in the second half. He completed his line score with six assists and three steals. It marked his third 30+ point game of the season.  He also led the Huskies in scoring in a 78-66 win over Minnesota Crookston. For the weekend he scored 46 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists and eight steals. He was seven-of-14 from three-point range and made 11 of 13 free throws.  Poydras has handed out 32 assists over the last six games. Seth Mortag (RFY, F, Brookfield, Wis.) made his second and third starts of the season and scored a season/career high 11 points in the win over UMC. Matt Craggs (Sr., F, Kimberly, Wis.) notched his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and ten rebounds against UMC. He nearly had his fifth on Saturday, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.  The Huskies are the third seed in the NSIC North and will host #6 seed in the south Sioux Falls at 8 p.m. Wednesday. St. Cloud State is 13-1 at home this season. The Huskies and Cougars met earlier this year in St. Cloud with the Huskies winning, 85-73. The Huskies have won five in a row over Sioux Falls and are 7-1 in the all-time series. A win on Wednesday would mark the Huskies third straight 20-win season and the tenth 20-win season in Kevin Schlagel’s head coaching career at St. Cloud State.
 
UPPER IOWA - Josh Weeber (C, 6-5, 215, Fr., Dubuque, Ia./Senior HS) averaged a team-high 22 points this past weekend to lead Upper Iowa to a weekend and series sweep against Augustana and Wayne State. The freshman stepped up late against Augie on Friday night as he hit three of his game-high six three-pointers in overtime. His first two triples of the extra period gave UIU a one-point lead, but the Vikings battled back. Weeber let his final trifecta fly from the top of the arc and hit nothing but net to put the Peacocks out in front for good as the home team sealed the 104-100 victory in OT. His sixth three-pointers against the Vikings ties a season-high for Weeber, while his 10 treys from the weekend ties a team-high in back-to-back games. In all, Weeber shot a red-hot 62-percent from deep and matched that percentage from the floor by hitting 15 of his 24 attempts. The Dubuque, Iowa native added four rebounds and three steals to his stat line for the weekend.
The Upper Iowa men’s basketball team continued its strong play over the past month winning seven of eight as the Peacocks delivered a weekend sweep to close out the NSIC regular season. On Friday night, Augie and UIU were even at the end of regulation and need an overtime period to decide the outcome. Despite the Vikings taking an early 4-point lead, UIU stormed back for the 104-100 win thanks to strong perimeter shooting. Joey Woods (G, 6-2, 210, R-Sr., Naples, Fla./Golden Gate HS) and Grant Lang (G, 6-4, 195, Jr., Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny HS) were a terrific one-two punch for the home team as the duo combined for 45 points - 25 of which came from Woods. The redshirt-senior added 7 assists and 6 rebounds to his stat line, while Lang hit three triples to earn his fifth 20-point outing of the season. The Peacocks used that momentum to jump all over Wayne State on Saturday, early and often. Despite a couple Wildcat runs late in the game, the Peacocks used a suffocating 23-5 run in the second half to secure an 85-74 victory at home on senior night. Weeber led UIU in scoring that night as well, hitting 8-of-10 field goals for a game-high 22 points. With the win, the Peacocks clinched the fourth seed and a home playoff game next Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. against Minnesota Duluth as part of the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men’s Basketball Tournament. UIU defeated the Bulldogs, 87-85, back on Feb. 14 in Fayette.

WAYNE STATE - Seniors Ty Bauschek and Jared Bartling led Wayne State in scoring in road losses at Winona State and Upper Iowa.  Bauschek, a 6-1 guard from Mukwonago, Wisconsin, averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds a game after scoring 11 points at Winona State and 18 points with eight rebounds Saturday in an 85-74 loss at Upper Iowa.  Bartling, a 6-8 senior center from Sioux Falls, S.D., had 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting Saturday in a loss at Upper Iowa.  Wayne State will visit Bemidji State Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the first round of the NSIC Sanford Health Men’s Basketball Tournament.
 
WINONA STATE -  Riley Bambenek, G, Fr., 6-5, Trempealeau, Wis. (G-E-T) led Winona State by averaging 18.5 points and 5.0 rebounds during the final weekend of the regular season. Bambenek scored 15 points and grabbed five boards in the team’s win over Wayne State before scoring 22 and adding another five rebounds, three assists and four steals the next night against Augustana. The freshman shot 43 percent on the weekend (13-of-30) while also knocking down four shots from behind the 3-point line. He also got to the free throw line regularly, going 7-of-10 at the charity stripe.

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
1/20/14 - Marc Musungayi - U-Mary
1/27/14 - Matt Craggs - SCSU
2/3/14 - Joey Woods - UIU
2/10/14 - Brock Lutes - BSU (2)
2/17/14 - Brock Lutes - BSU (3)
2/24/14 - Jordan Poydras - SCSU (2)