LaVelle's last stand: Beavers lose last game of season 88-83 in OT

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Feb. 25, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

The Beaver men's basketball team gave senior forward B.J. LaVelle a memorable going away party Wednesday night, taking conference foe Southwest State into overtime before losing 88-83.

The Beavers actually fought back from a seven-point halftime deficit to tie the contest twice in the second half, the first time at 61-61 with about nine and a half minutes left. And the second, and more important time, was at 72-72 with just under two minutes to play.

The Beavers kept a close leash on the Mustangs most of the extra period, but with about 20 seconds left and down 85-83, the Beavers blew their best opportunity to clinch a victory.

After a muffed, Mustangs free throw, BSU center Ben Caron grabbed a defensive board that could have given the Beavers the game's last possession. But instead, Caron threw an errant outlet pass that landed in the hands of Mustang guard Greg Sinnott.

Bemidji State was forced to foul him, and he increased Southwest's lead to four and sealed the victory. They eventually won 88-83.

The loss ended the Beavers season at 10-17 overall and 4-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, and left BSU sixth in the final conference standings.

The Mustangs finished 16-11 overall and 7-5 in the NSIC, good enough for third place.

On a night that was dedicated to the Beavers' two-time scoring leader, LaVelle had an uncharacteristically quiet night scoring only four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field.

He finished his Bemidji State career with a total of 944 points, 289 rebounds and 235 assists.

"B.J. had a nice career ... he improved every year," Beavers coach Dave Gunther said. "He was a good representative for BSU."