The Media’s Perspective

[PointGuard]

NDSU Turns Over Game to Dartmouth

Yesterday the North Dakota State basketball team played the Dartmouth Big Green in Hanover, New Hampshire. The Bison made a game of it early in the 1st half, then fell apart allowing Dartmouth to build a double digit lead in the middle stages of the half. But they came back to draw within 4 at the break at 31-27. Dartmouth reasserted themselves early in the 2nd half and quickly re-established a double digit lead that they held onto throughout most of the remainder of the game. North Dakota State suffered a 69-57 loss. As has been the case frequently for the Bison this year, they won the battle of the boards 39-21 but turned the ball over 19 times and got outshot by the Big Green 48% to 40%. C Matt Haywood scored 13 to go along with 7 rebounds and SF Brandon Tracy added 10 points. PF Evan Williams again played well scoring 9 and pulling down 8 boards. Dartmouth’s SF Julian Worrell led all scorers with 20 points. North Dakota State’s season record is now 2-3.

In response to a question about the Bison’s propensity to turn the ball over to their opponents, Coach Tad Bolton replied, “It’s definitely a concern and an aspect of the game we need to work on. It has negated our rebounding advantage in a few of our losses. Another thing I’m concerned about, though, is that our starting point guard, Colin Shannon, is continually being tagged by the refs for very picky fouls and that is keeping him on the bench far more than we want. It’s disappointing.”

[PointGuard]

TB: Hey folks, the NDSU game against Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix finished a little before I came on the air. So how did the Bison do? Well, I’ll tell ya. They won 73-61!
But rather than me pontificating about the game, let’s hear what you fans have to say about it. Call in if you attended the game.

And here’s our first caller...it’s Mark the Shark. So Sharky, what stood out for you tonight?

MtS: Well first, the crowd at Sheels Arena was mighty small. Lots of elbow room! The Bison came out ready to play. They scored the first 6 points and built a 10 point lead midway through the first half. The team was aggressive and playing some lock-down defense early. So even though there were a lot of empty seats, the fans that were there really got into the game.

TB: Glad you like it, Sharky. Thanks for calling in. Our next caller is The Biggest Bison Fan. Tell me, how’d you get that nickname.

TBBF: Well, when you go to NDSU football teams, I’m the fan who shows up in the full Bison costume and charge and snort around the stands. So eventually others just starting calling me The Biggest Bison Fan. I don’t wear the costume to basketball games. It would be too hot. For football in North Dakota, the costume actually keeps me cozy warm.

TB: Tell me, what did you see as some key factors in NDSU’s win tonight.

TBBF: I was impressed how they attacked the boards. They positioned well and boxed out the Phoenix players really well. I really think that was the difference in the first half when the Bison got the lead and held onto a double digit lead right up to the end. Even though Wisconsin-Green Bay hit a 3 at the buzzer, the halftime lead was still 31-24.

TB: Now we have Ronnie calling in. Hey Ronnie, good to talk with you again.

R: Hey man, this game was a blast. We partied before, during and after the game. I might be pretty buzzed, but I’ll tell you what. I liked what I saw tonight. That new coach managed the game well and kept subbing to keep fresh legs on the floor. That also led to really balanced scoring. All 10 Bison who got into the game scored and SF Brandon Tracy, SG Kevin Brinker and PF Evan Williams each finished with 12 points to lead the team’s scoring. I think Colin Shannon finally seems to be getting comfortable at the point. He had 5 assists tonight and was a good court general.

TB: Hey Ronnie, get some sleep and don’t be driving. After the commercial we’ll talk with Wolfman Stan.

TB: OK, we’re back. I’d like to find out what you think the Bison need to work on most, Wolfman.

WS: No doubt about it, Tyler. It’s turnovers. The team turned the ball over all too much from beginning to end. And yes, Wisconsin-Green Bay also failed to protect the ball, but the Bison made 18 turnovers and were a -2 in that statistic. They also didn’t control the Phoenix’ best scorer, SF Kirk Qualls. He finished the game with 19 points.

TB: Wolfman, you definitely know your basketball, so I have no doubt you hit the nail on the head. Let’s hear from Carla, a first time caller.

C: Thanks for taking my call, Mr. Baines.

TB: Hey Carla, we’re all friends here so call me Tyler.

C: Well, uhhh, ok Tyler. This is the first time I’ve ever called in to a radio station. I’m sort of nervous.

TB: No need to be nervous, most of the other people who are listening don’t have the intestinal fortitude you have to call in. So Carla, what’s on your mind?

C: I really like basketball, uhhhhh Tyler. I watch it on TV all the time...both mens’ and womens’ games. But I got so upset at the game tonight by the referees. The refs need to leave their whistles at home and let the guys play the game! The refs were tough on both teams, but they let Wisconsin-Green Bay back in the game in the second half by the penny-ante fouls they were calling against our Bison.

TB: Good point, Carla. Anything else you want to say?

C: Ummm, well Tyler, just that the Bison shot very well. I heard they hit 50% of their shots in this game. Pretty impressive. And they shot consistently well throughout the game.

TB: I agree. And they held the shooting of Wisconsin-Green Bay to 41%. Great that you called in, Carla. Hope to hear from you again. But we now have to break for news.

[PointGuard]

Bison Clip Eagles Wings

Boston College came to Sheels Arena ranked #11 in the country with a win over #10 Syracuse and no losses on the road. The 7-1 Eagles brought 3 players scoring in double figures, led by PG Steve Strandmarks’s 17.4 ppg and PF John Morrisey’s 15.6 ppg. Morrisey also was averaging 8 rebounds a game.

Having a ranked ACC team brought out a little larger crowd than normal. The fans were rewarded with a hard fought game by both teams early. The lead went back and forth with 11 lead changes and 5 ties in the first 10 minutes of the game. But even though the refs sent 3 Bison players to the bench in foul trouble, NDSU clamped down defensively and took a 37-25 lead with 4 minutes to go in the half. The Bison were on top 46-32 at the end of the first half due to their hitting 68% of their shots compared to BC’s 32% shooting. NDSU held a 15-10 rebound advantage, but the Eagles got to the line 11 more times and scored 11 more points on free throws. SG Kelsey Brown led the Bison offensively with 11 points in the half but was matched for high point honors by the Eagles’ PG Steve Strandmark.

The Bison came out on fire and scored the first 9 pts in second half to take a 23 point lead at 55-32. While it looked to be a blow out, NDSU was to need all those points before the end of the game. Bison shooting went cold and BC showed why they were a ranked team by cutting the lead to 9 with 6 minutes to go in the game. Strandmark hit a 3 with a minute left to reduce the lead to 67-62. After SG Kelsey Brown dropped in a pair of free throws, BC hit another 3 and trailed by just 4 points with 40 seconds to go. The Eagles were forced to foul on subsequent possession and PG Colin Shannon hit 4 of 6 free throws to keep BC at bay and allowing NDSU to score a huge 73-68 win.

The Bison held a 47% to 36% shooting advantage and were +9 in rebounds but turned the ball over 20 times. Leading scorer for NDSU was SG Kelsey Brown with 19 points. PF James Hall scored 12 and pulled down 9 rebounds. PG Colin Shannon added 10 points. BC’s sharp-shooting PG Steve Strandmark knocked down a game high 24 points.

When asked about his best game of the season, Kelsey Brown responded, “I was getting some good looks at the basket tonight and got some great screens from my teammates.” James Hall added, “We were psyched coming into the game to be playing a highly ranked team. Coach told us to just play a solid 40 minutes and we would have a chance of winning this one. Although we couldn’t control Strandmark, we were able to squelch everyone else. Our entire team came up big and really put together a solid defensive effort against a very talented team to pull off a big upset.”

With the win, NDSU has now won their last 2 games and stand 4-3 for the season. The Bison will travel to Clinton, South Carolina to take on the Presbyterian Blue Hose this Thursday night.

[PointGuard]

Tonight the North Dakota State Bison went on the road to take on the Presbyterian Blue Hose. The Bison shot the lights out in the first half to take a 39-32 halftime advantage with SG Kevin Brinker leading the way with 11 first half points.

But the hometown refs decided to even things up in the 2nd half by whistling foul after foul against NDSU. The Bison gamely held onto a double digit lead as the guard duo of Kevin Brinker and Colin Shannon poured in field goals to offset the free throws being awarded to Presbyterian. But late in the game the Blue Hose were finally able to close the game with their continuing parade to the foul line. With 1:43 left Presbyterian closed to within 2 points of the Bison. NDSU then completely shut down Presbyterian, though, to come away with a 72-67 victory and increase their win streak to 3 games. They're now 5-3 this season.

Kevin Brinker finished the game with 21 points and Colin Shannon dropped in 19 for the Bison. Presbyterian’s big center, Teddy Reeves scored 20.

And in other Bison basketball news, the Summit League announced that Kelsey Brown won this week’s Freshman Player of the Week award. Congratulations, Kelsey! Steve Monroe, NDSU's Athletic Director, praised Brown's work ethic and said that he's developing quickly for a freshman and already is a key member of the Bison team.

[PointGuard]

I made it to the North Dakota State game last night when they went up against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Lehigh came into the game with a 4-3 record and were led by SG Ronnie Scott who was averaging 18.6 ppg.

It took the Bison 3-1/2 minutes to score and by that time trailed 7-0. They slowly got back into the game and finally took a 19-18 lead with 11 minutes to play by hitting 5 of 7 of their 3’s. While a strong part of NDSU’s game thus far this season has been their domination of the boards, the Mountain Hawks turned the tables of them in the first half by grabbing 16 rebounds to the Bison’s 9. That allowed Lehigh to build a 34-30 halftime lead. PG Colin Shannon poured in 13 points for NDSU in the first half.

Both teams played sloppily in the early going of the 2nd half, but NDSU scored the first 8 points in the half to go on top 38-34. The Bison applied a staunch defense throughout the 2nd half. Together with some good shooting and a resurgence on the boards, they were able to maintain a 4-8 point lead most of the 2nd half. With 45 seconds left in the game the Bison were up 59-54. They held the Mountain Hawks scoreless from there on and won their 4th straight game. The final score was NDSU 62, Lehigh 54.

While rebounds and turnovers both were even for the two teams, NDSU hit 50% of their FG attempts while holding Lehigh’s shooting to 39%. They also held Ronnie Scott to just 12 points. PG Colin Shannon scored 15 while dishing out 4 assists and SF Brandon Tracy chipped in 14 points.

The Bison now have a 6-3 record this season and are 4-0 at home. But they will finish pre-conference play with 2 games on the road in California.

[Wayne23]

"Break up the Bisons!"

[PointGuard]

Bison Let Lead Slip Away

Another away game, this time against the University of Pacific Tigers in Stockton, California. The Tigers held a 2-5 record before the game began. This was the first game of a 2-game road trip to California.

The Bison turned the ball over 3 of their first 4 possessions giving the Tigers a quick 4-0 lead. But the game was tied at 8-8 at the first TV timeout. NDSU took their first lead at 18-17 with 9 minutes left in the first half. The Bison held onto a slim lead most of the rest of the half and at the break sported a 41-36 advantage as they outshot Pacific 55% to 35%. PG Colin Shannon poured in 11 points in the half.

3 minutes into the 2nd half, NDSU expanded their lead to 10. But the Tigers roared back and tied the game at 59-59 with 9 minutes remaining and then took a 63-61 lead with 6:50 to go. The Bison regained the lead and with 4:20 to go were ahead 68-65. Pacific turned things around by taking a 72-68 lead with 3 minutes on the clock. NDSU cut the lead to 2 points with 90 seconds left. Pacific hit 1 of 2 free throws with 25 seconds remaining to take a 75-72 lead. The Bison missed a shot and had to foul. Pacific sunk both shots to salt the game away. A late basket by NDSU was meaningless as they lost 77-74.

Team statistics were close but Pacific made 6 more points at the free throw line. PG Colin Shannon dropped in 24 points to lead all scorers.

The 6-4 Bison will travel down Highway 99 for a game against Cal State Bakersfield to end their pre-conference season.

[PointGuard]

Tonight we’re taking a look at another Division I small college basketball program. This time it’s the North Dakota State Bison. NDSU hired Tad Bolton as their coach before this season began. With no Division I coaching experience and taking on a team that has had a dismal record the past several years, no one expected much from the team from Bismarck. This was particularly true since North Dakota State is known as a football school. Last night the Tigers lost on the road to Pacific but still have a 6-4 record.

Their offense primarily comes from their perimeter players with SG Kevin Brinker averaging 11.5 ppg, PG Colin Shannon 11.4 ppg, and SF Brandon Tracy 9.1 ppg.

One of the strengths of the Bisons is rebounding. They are a + 4.2 per game in rebounding thus far this season after 10 games.

Coach Bolton has his players working the ball around so that they are getting good looks at the basket. They are hitting 48% of their field goal attempts, 76% of their free throws, and 37% of their threes.

But this deliberate approach has caused the Bisons to be error-prone, averaging 17.3 turnovers per game.

The Bison are 1 of just 3 teams in the Summit League that have a winning record thus far, so they could challenge favorite Western Illinois for the conference title.

[PointGuard]

The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners had lost all 4 road games they’d played but they were 5-2 at home coming into the game against the Bison. Their offense was buoyed by a a Mr. Outside (PG John Bush, 12.9 ppg) and a Mr. Inside (C Earl Simmons, 12.6 ppg).

North Dakota State came out to play in the first half. They took an early lead and extending it midway through the half to as much as 9 points by deploying a stingy defense. The Roadrunners cut the lead to 3 but then the Bison pulled away to take a 41-31 halftime lead. The Bison dominated all team statistics except turnovers. Offensive production came mainly from Bison point guards as both Colin Shannon and David Miller scored 10 points and Cliff Evans added 3. But the question lingered through the halftime intermission: After the way the Bison’s blew a 14 point lead in their last game, could a 10 point lead be considered safe?

The Roadrunners began hitting their shots in the 2nd half and with 12-1/2 minutes remaining had cut the lead to just a single point. CSU Bakersfield then pulled ahead 59-57 with 10 minutes left. NDSU then fell behind by 7 points before rallying to pull within 3 points with 2 minutes left in the game. Colin Shannon was fouled with 1:40 to go and hit both shots to shave the Roadrunner lead to 73-72. After a missed shot by CSU Bakersfield, Kevin Brinker put up a contested 15 footer that failed to go down but he was fouled on the shot. He made just one of two and the game was tied. Both teams failed to score on their next possessions, but the Roadrunners’ Earl Simmons was fouled with 35 ticks on the clock. He made just one of two. Trailing by one, Coach Bolton called a timeout to call a play. But Kevin Brinker lost the ball and the Bison were forced to foul. CSU Bakersfield scored on both free throws. Brinker’s 3 point shot from 25 feet out rimmed out at the buzzer. The Bison were saddled with their second straight nail-bitter loss, 76-73. That dropped their record to 6-5 going into conference play. Again turnovers proved to be the Bison’s undoing. They turned the ball over 18 times and were a -8 in that team statistic.

PG Colin Shannon again played a strong game, scoring 21 points while dishing out 3 assists and pulling down 5 rebounds. SG Kevin Brinker had 11 points and PG David Miller scored 10.

[PointGuard]

Summit League Hoops Preview

With league play beginning this week, the North Dakota State Bison’s 6-5 record is surpassed only by Western Illinois (8-3) and IPFW (7-4). All other Summit League contenders had losing records in pre-conference play.

Western Illinois has 3 players scoring in double figures. SG Dante Porter leads their scoring with a 15.7 ppg average. PG Stevie Magliore is right behind at 14.8 ppg. PF Calvin Thomas is averaging 11.8 ppg. The Leathernecks have quality wins over Butler, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati.

IPFW opened the season with an overtime win on the road over UNLV and then reeled off 6 straight wins. But they have lost their last 3 games. PG Armand Marsh is their leading scorer, averaging 14.5 ppg.

North Dakota State ran off 4 straight wins including a 73-68 victory over #11 Boston College, but they dropped their final two games coming into conference play. PG Colin Shannon is averaging 12.4 ppg and SG Kevin Brinker has a 11.4 ppg average. In order to seriously challenge for the top spot in the Summit League, the Bison are going to have to tend the ball better to reduce their turnovers while also fouling less often.

Of the remainder of the conference:

C Roland Mullahon is averaging 16.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg for South Dakota (5-6).

The Denver Pioneers (4-7) are led by SG Derrick Williams (16.5 ppg).

Top scorer for IUPUI (4-7) is SG Brian Hall who is averaging 12.3 ppg.

Oral Roberts (4-7) had a big win over Virginia earlier this season and their offense is led by PG Morgan Scott (13.5 ppg).

Topping the scoring for South Dakota State (4-7) is SG Darrell Toten (11.8 ppg).

C Ian Leatherman (13.6 ppg) leads the scoring for Nebraska-Omaha (3-8).

North Dakota State hosts Oral Roberts on Monday to kick off their Summit League campaign. Coach Tad Bolton commented, “The Summit League is very balanced this year so any team can beat any other team on a given night. In our last two games we played strongly in the first half and then let both games get away from us in the second half. When playing on the road, we have to play tough for the entire 40 minutes if we expect to win.”