The Media’s Perspective

[PointGuard]

RR: This morning we have the head coach of the North Dakota State Bison basketball team with us. Tad Bolton is entering his second year as coach for the Bison. Welcome, Coach Bolton.

TB: Thanks Rory. It’s good to be here.

RR: Last season, Coach, your team won 16 games and tied for 2nd in the Summit. That was a dramatic improvement over how the Bison had performed for many years. Do you see a continuance of that improvement this season?

TB: That’s hard to predict. I think we’ve added depth this season, so while I’m hopeful, we still need to gel as a team this season after losing three starters from last year’s team.

RR: Are the three new players you recruited last year ready to step in?

TB: Yes, I think each one of them will contribute this season even though they still need to learn the system more. Ed Doss played JC ball so has maturity and should pick up a lot of minutes buoying our interior. Jared Bedard and Brian Degala, both guards and freshmen, are very talented and I believe they will rapidly develop as the season progresses. In fact, Jared nearly won a starting position and may well become a starter soon.

RR: So, who will be starting for the Bison in tomorrow’s first game?

TB: At times, I felt like I could throw darts at the board to select the starting lineup since we have no one who is our go-to guy. Players have been hot one day and cold the next, so it’s been hard to know who will show up each game for us.

RR: You HAVE selected starters, haven’t you?

TB: (Laughing). Yes, Rory, we have a lineup for game one, but I expect we will be experimenting with different combinations throughout much of our pre-conference play. Brandon Tracy is one of our steadiest players and will start again at SF. Michael Daniels, played well off the bench last year, so he will likely see a fair number of minutes off the bench at SF. We also may go with a small lineup at certain parts of the game and several of our guards can be slotted in at the 3 position. David Miller has been producing offensively for us and will start at PG. David may see quite a bit of time at the 2 position as well this season. At SG Kelsey Brown will start in game one. But he’s needs to gain some consistency or Miller may start at the 2 and, as I previously mentioned, freshman Jared Bedard could move in as a starter at PG. James Winter, who redshirted last season, has shown a lot of growth and will help us off the bench at PG. Freshman Brian Degala needs to get more comfortable with our system, but should gain in minutes at SG as the season progresses. Evan Williams has been productive offensively again and will start at PF. The center position is a toss-up for us. I’m starting Jaron Dickerson in game one, but James Hall is fighting to get back to his usual starter status and could take over there in future games. Ed Doss and C.J. Robertson will back us inside. Thus far we seem to be producing more points from outside. I’d like to see our interior players be more aggressive offensively and also haul down more rebounds. We’re going to continue to work with the entire group on this and see who responds best.

RR: Are you ready to take on Northeastern in game one?

TB: You’re never as ready as you’d like beginning the season and to start it off on the road makes it a bigger hurdle to jump, but I expect our guys to make a good showing against the Huskies.

[Wayne23]

Beat the Huskies! Hm, this is the first time I've ever said that!

[PointGuard]

Beat the Huskies! Hm, this is the first time I've ever said that!

Repeat, 10 times a day.

[Wayne23]

EEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

[PointGuard]

Tonight the North Dakota State Bison basketball team travelled to Boston to kick off their season by taking on the Northeastern Huskies.

Throughout the first half, the Bison were stone cold from the field and played from behind for most of the half. They hit just 23% of their shots in the half. Fortunately, they got to the line 19 times where they scored 16 points allowing them to keep in the game and trail at the half by just 3 points at 30-27. SG Kelsey Brown was the top scorer for the Bison with 6 points.

NDSU’s shooting didn’t improve much early in the second half, but they stayed close and finally tied the game at 48-48 with just under 8 minutes to play. They then took a 58-56 lead when Brandon Tracy hit a long 3 with 3:55 to go. On the ensuing possession, Tracy stole a pass and pushed it ahead to Evan Williams who jammed home a shot that put the Bison on top by 4 points. The Huskies were then charged with a 3-second violation and the Bison made them pay when David Miller brought the ball up, drove to the hole, pulled up and hit an 8 foot jumper to give NDSU a 6 point lead at the 3:21 point. The Bison continued to play solid defense and pushed their lead to 9 with 1-1/2 minutes left. Miler hit a late 3 to make the final margin of victory 74-62.

North Dakota State shot the lights out in the final 10 minutes to increase their overall shooting for the game to 44%. They turned the ball over just 13 times while forcing Northeastern into 23 turnovers. PF Evan Williams led their scoring with 13 points, while PG David Miller and SG Kelsey Brown both scored 10. Brown also pulled down 8 rebounds. C Jaron Dickerson scored 9 and PF/C James Hall and PF/C Ed Doss added 8 each.

Coach Tad Bolton said he was pleased by his team never letting down even though they weren’t hitting their shots and with their late-game comeback.

The Bison return home to host Texas-San Antonio this Thursday night.

[PointGuard]

Bison Run Away from Roadrunners

Returning home after an opening game win over Northeastern, the Bison basketball team played their first home game of the season against the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners last night.

The starting lineup was the same as their first game with the exception of James Hall taking over at the center position.

After just 8 minutes of play the Bison held a double-digit lead. By hitting 53% of their shots while holding the Roadrunners to 29% shooting, North Dakota State built a 44-25 halftime advantage. Two newcomers to the Bison led their scoring. PF/C Ed Doss scored 13 and SG Brian Degala dropped in 9 points.

The Bison built a 30-point lead before Coach Bolton played the entire bench extensively. That allowed the Roadrunners to cut the lead but North Dakota still ended up with an easy 84-70 win.

PF/C Ed Doss scored 15 while the trio of SF Brandon Tracy, C/PF James Hall, and SG Brian Degala each scored 10 points. PG James Winter and PG Jared Bedard both added 8 points. As in their first game the Bison held a distinct advantage in turnovers (10 vs 19).

The St. Peter’s Peacocks come to Fargo to challenge the 2-0 Bison this coming Monday night.

[PointGuard]

I made it over to the Bison Sports Arena last night to watch the Bison take on the mighty Peacocks from St. Peter’s. The game matched up two undefeated teams.

The Bison capitalized on turnovers and great shooting early to take an 11-5 lead in the first 3 minutes of play. North Dakota State continued to gradually expand their lead by way of a stingy defense that held St. Peter’s shooting to 32% and forced 12 the Peacocks to turn the ball over 12 times. By the time the first half ended, the Bison sported a 37-23 advantage. NDSU’s two starting guards, David Miller and Kelsey Brown, scored 10 and 8 points, respectively.

By the 14:22 mark in the 2nd half the Bison opened a 51-29 lead as their defense continued to bedevil the Peacocks. At that point St. Peter’s players began to drop in their shots, narrowing the lead to 12 points before the Bison buoyed themselves and finished with a 77-62 victory.

The Bison hit 52% of their shots and held a 22-12 turnover advantage. PF Evan Williams topped their scoring with 22 points. PG David Miller scored 16 and SG Kelsey Brown added 13.

I caught up to Coach Tad Bolton who said that while he’s very pleased with how the Bison have been playing and their 3-0 start, they are now entering a particularly tough part of their schedule where they will play three straight games on the road.

[PointGuard]

Hello Bison fans. Tonight the Bison have travelled south to take on the Northern iowa Panthers and their 2-1 record.

The Panthers have been led by freshman phenom SG Dalron Harris who is scoring 17.7 ppg. so the Bison need to figure out a way to stop him.

Different players have been coming up big each game for the Bison so we’ll have to await tonight’s surprise.
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Evan Williams forces up a shot from 10 feet along the right side of the foul lane and it drops for the first score of the night. 2-0 in favor of the Bison with 18:22 to go.
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Oh oh, a second foul called on the Bison center, James Hall. At the 18:10 mark, he heads to the bench and is replaced by big Jaron Dickerson.
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Brandon Tracy gets clear for a 3 that drops. That’s his second trey and puts the Bison up 19-13 with 12-1/2 minutes to go in the half.
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The buzzer sounds ending the first half with the Bison ahead 41-33. Even though the Panthers shot well, hitting 56% of their shots, the Bison defense overall was good. They forced Northern Iowa to make 15 turnovers compared to the Bison turning the ball over 8 times. The Bison hit 57% of their FG attempts. PF Evan Williams was on fire scoring 17 points for North Dakota State. As expected, SG Dalron Harris led the Panther attack with 10 points.
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3 fouls against the Bison in the first 40 seconds of the 2nd half including the 3rd on James Hall.
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David Miller takes the pass and turns quickly to put up a shot that goes down making it 57-43 in favor of the Bison with 13 minutes to play.
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Another whistle against the Bison. This foul on Ed Doss, his 3rd. Five Bison now have 3 or more fouls and there are still 5 minutes left to play. Drew McDaniel goes to the line for the Panthers. He makes the first and now drops in the 2nd shot cutting the Bison lead to 66-59.
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With 48 seconds to go, Northern Iowa is forced to foul. David Miller goes to the line sinking both shots to make it 74-65.
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That’s it. The Bison have won their 4th straight game to start this season. This time by the score of 74-68. The Bison his 54% of the FG attempts, including 54% of their 3’s.
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PT: Coach Bolton, let me ask you a few quick questions before you head to the locker room.
TB: Sure Pepper!
PT: What was behind such good play by your team tonight?
TB: The guys played with terrific confidence. They shot well all night which took the Panthers’ crowd out of the game. We controlled the game and every time Northern Iowa made a run, our guys had an answer so they never let Northern Iowa truly back into the game.
PT: You again forced your opponents into a lot of turnovers.
TB: Yes, I think the Panthers ended up with 20 turnovers. We maintained good control of the ball in the first half, but got a little sloppy in the 2nd half, which was uncharacteristic.
PT: Your starters played a heckuva game.
TB: They sure did. Evan Williams led our scoring with 21 but I was really happy to see Brandon Tracy get his shooting eye back and score 19. David Miller scored 13 and many of those were just when we needed them. With James Hall being sidelined in foul trouble much of the night, Ed Doss did a great job replacing him to score 11. And Kelsey Brown scored just 8 points but played a solid game on both ends of the floor.
PT: The only thing your team didn’t seem to accomplish was controlling Dalron Harris. He scored 23.
TB: Northern Iowa recruited him under the radar last year. We certainly overlooked him. But he’s been a stud in every game the Panthers have played this year. It’s not often a freshman comes in with not only so much talent but the ability to mesh right in with the team. He’s going to be a key component for Northern Iowa all 4 years he’s there.
PT: Good luck when you go Lynchburg, Virginia to take on Liberty early next week.
TB: Thanks. We’ll need it. Road games are always a challenge.

[PointGuard]

Hey, Bison sports fans. I have some news for you tonight in this segment about North Dakota State’s basketball game against the Liberty Flames.

The Bison had a tough challenge. Not only were they playing on the road against a team that afer losing their opener has won three straight games, but Liberty entered the game with L. B. Person, their small forward, averaging 22.5 ppg, Jason Shaw, their shooting guard, dropping in 15.0 ppg, and Steve Jennings, their center, scoring 9.0 ppg. So the Bison defense was sure to be challenged.

After going ahead 7-2, North Dakota State let Liberty score 12 straight points in just over 2 minutes of play. With the Flames hitting 59% of their FG attempts and 100% of their FT attempts in the first half plus out-rebounding the Bison 19-10, North Dakota State fell behind at the half by the score of 50-35. C/PF Ed Doss scored 7 points to lead Bison scoring while SG Jason Shaw pumped in 14 points for Liberty.

Early in the 2nd half, the Bison repeatedly turned the ball over leading to some quick, easy points by the Flames who took a 58-37 lead with 17-1/2 minutes to play. Even though the Flames had 19 turnovers, the Bison has 21. The Flames controlled the boards 30-19. This allowed Liberty to score 34 points in the paint, 10 second chance points, and 20 fast break points. The Bison were tagged for their first loss of the season to the tune of 86-68.

Ed Doss scored 15 points for North Dakota State. Four Liberty players scored in double figures. The only success for the Bison was that they limited SF L. B. Person to 8 points.

The Bison have one more game remaining in their 3-game road trip. They next play 3-1 Lafayette.

[PointGuard]

Another game of the road for the Bison baskeballers. This time they took on the Lafayette Leopards.

The Leopards’ SF Henry Mitchell and SG Alex Butler came into the game averaging a combined 32 ppg. Last season both were 1st team All Conference players and Mitchell was the Patriot League’s Player of the Year. The Leopards were 18-11 last season and entered the game with a 3-1 record this year. Their only loss was on the road to a talented Memphis Tigers team.

A heavy early winter snowstorm made travel to Easton, PA very difficult. The Bison were very late arriving.

North Dakota State had a hard time getting untracked and fell behind by 6 before tying the game at 13-13 midway through the half. The Bison opened 9 point lead later in the half, but that lead was trimmed to 35-33 at the halftime break. PF Evan Williams led the Bison scoring with 11 points at the half.

The Leopards came out of the locker room hitting their shots while North Dakota State’s shooting was cold. The Bison fell behind 50-41 with 11 minutes to play.

North Dakota State battled back to draw within single point at 62-61 with 3-1/2 minutes to go. Then Ed Doss drove to the basket and slammed home a dunk with 2:30 left to put Bison on top 63-62. Doss fouled on ensuing possession and Leopards hit one of two shots to tie the game.

Brandon Tracy was fouled with 1:40 remaining and sunk both shots giving the Bison a 65-63 lead. Doss got inside again and laid it in to expand lead to 4 points with 1:16 on the clock. Doss then stole a pass and pushed the ball upcourt to a streaking Brandon Tracy for a big jam and a 6 point lead. Lafayette dropped in two foul shots to reduce the lead to 69-65 with 38 seconds to go. Lafayette fouled, but Brandon Tracy could only make one of his two free throws making it 70-65 with 31 ticks on clock. Lafayette scored to cut lead to 3 then fouled immediately. Jared Bedard knocked down both free throws and score was 72-67 with 16 seconds remaining. Lafayette hit a 3, then fouled on inbound pass. With crowd roaring, David Miller calmly sank both shots and North Dakota State came away with a 74-70 comeback win on the road.

The Bison hit 50% of their shots and 86% of their free throws while turning the ball over just 12 times. PF Evan Williams and PG David Miller both scored 15 and PF/C Ed Doss dropped in 14. C James Hall scored 7 and pulled down 8 rebounds. The Bison held high-scoring Henry Mitchell to just 4 points while causing him to make 6 turnovers.

North Dakota State returns home sporting a 5-1 record. They’ve won 3 of their 4 road game this season and now have 4 straight home games, starting with Monday night’s game against Texas Southern.

Their RPI is 35th best in the country, although that is probably inflated given their relatively weak schedule. At this point, Evan Williams is averaging 14.3 ppg, David Miller 11.5 ppg, and Ed Doss (coming in off the bench) 10.8 ppg.