North by Northwestern: Beavers beat Eagles 82-79

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.

Dec. 19, 1998

By Devlyn Brooks

The Beavers men's basketball team fought back from eight points down and watched as a last-second desperation three-pointer caromed off the rim in a 82-79 victory over Northwestern Friday night.

After two periods of a physical see-saw battle, Bemidji State led 77-75 with about 1:50 left, and then the Beavers' Carlos Barnes took charge.

He sank two free throws with a minute left to make it 79-76, and after an Eagles' trey, converted a knifing drive to the basket with 26 seconds left to seal the game.

He also converted a garbage free throw amounting to the Beavers' final five points.

After Barnes hit his free throw, the Eagles' Dan Westin dribbled the length of the court and got off a desperation three that hit the top of the rim and slowly rolled off at the buzzer.

End of game.

Beavers win 82-79.

Beavers coach Dave Gunther predicted earlier in the week the contest would be close with both teams entering with similar records and statistics.

But he couldn't have predicted the Beavers' fast start that fizzled four minutes into the game, and the battle that would follow.

Seth Greenwaldt hit a three-pointer three and a half minutes into the game to build a 13-4 BSU lead, but it was the biggest they would hold all night.

Northwestern clawed its way back to a 23-22 Beavers' lead with less than half of the first period remaining, and that's the way things would be at the half -- the Beavers leading by a point 44-43.

The second half featured much of the same see-saw action while the physical play increased.

The smaller Eagles team continually grew frustrated with the Beavers' size and athleticism, leading to several silly fouls in the second half.

"Physically, they are much bigger than we are, and we wanted to spread them out ... get their big guys away from the basket," Northwestern coach Joseph Smith said after the game. "They jump higher and shoot stronger. We don't finish (strong to the basket) well, and they did."

Northwestern did contain the Beavers' inside game fairly well in the first half, with the bright spot being BSU forward Larry Smith, who started for the ill Ben Caron.

Smith converted 7-of-8 from the field, mostly from the inside, to lead the Beavers at half with 14 points. He finished the night 9-of-11 from the field with 18 points.

"I saw the penetration a couple of times, so I took it," Smith said. "Coach told us to look for the penetration, and it was there."

Seth Greenwaldt helped to pry open the middle in the second half by nailing four treys -- three of which were instrumental in bringing the Beavers back from their eight-point deficit.

He finished 5-of-5 from three-point land and had 19 points to lead Bemidji State.

"They were jamming the middle up until Seth (Greenwaldt) hit some big threes," coach Gunther said. "We got a little bit impatient at times, and we didn't get the ball inside."

Barnes, who didn't start the game but finished strong, scored 17 to finish in double-digits as well, as did Mac Smith with 12.

"We played well, (but) their emotion is what closed the gap (at the end of the game)," Smith said. "At times we played really smart, and at times we didn't. But for us, to have a 6-6 non-conference record is good. There use to be a time when one nonconference win was good for Northwestern."

The Beavers upped their record to 6-5, and their next action will be Dec. 31 when they host Mayville (N.D.) State at BSU Gymnasium.