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Men look to rebound
You win some, you lose some. Every time this old phrase is coined, basketball players pretend they didn't hear a thing. Hoopsters want to win them all if they could. Presently for the SCSU men's basketball team, however, they've been losing some � make that three in a row to be exact.
After last weekend's disappointments to Northern Colorado and Nebraska-Omaha, the Huskies (16-6, 8-6 NCC) will be looking to get back on their feet at home against North Dakota and North Dakota State. North Dakota will be the tougher of the two contests this weekend.
UND is led by junior star Jerome Beasley. Beasley leads the Sioux, and the NCC in scoring at 21.9 ppg. He also averages 7.6 rebounds a contest. All around, that's not too bad for a junior college transfer. Then there's the threat of sharpshooter Jeff Brandt. The sophomore is averaging 15.8 ppg and can basically step out and hit his jumper anytime he wants to.
Last weekend, UND (14-8, 9-5 NCC) swept Morningside and South Dakota. In Saturday's 87-75 victory over USD, Brandt had 32 points and Beasley added 28 with 10 boards. This just shows how much this double-headed monster can cause trouble for its opponents.
"Jerome (Beasley) is the most difficult matchup in our league," said SCSU head coach Kevin Schlagel. "His size, athleticism and shooting ability sets him apart from everybody else. We did a good job on him the last time we played, he just hit the key shots when they needed them. We'll have to double team him, and try to make other guys score to beat us."
Beasley did indeed hit some key shots in UND's 91-88 overtime victory in Grand Forks earlier this season against St. Cloud. In fact, he hit the shot that forced the extra session and the game-winner. He finished with 36 points on the night, while jacking up 31 shots. But you can't always focus on Beasley, because Brandt is always looming in the background.
"We'll need to play a solid game to beat them on Saturday," Schlagel said.
We'll have to limit their second chance opportunities and try to push the ball whenever possible."
On Friday, St. Cloud still has a tough task when they will encounter North Dakota State (10-13, 4-10 overall). While the record isn't that flashy for the Bison, they still have a weapon named Denver TenBroek. TenBroek is second to Beasley in the NCC scoring race at 19.1 ppg. He's also grabbing 6.7 rpg.
The Bison live or die from downtown. This season they're shooting 38 percent from behind the arc. That low of a percentage won't win a lot games, and it shows in their record. Yet they still have that potent scorer with the awful name.
"If NDSU gets on a roll, they can shoot the lights out," Schlagel noted. "You always have to know where Denver is at too. They have some other guys that can shoot the three as well. We'll just have to get out on the perimeter and defend the three."
During these last four conference games for SCSU, things will definitely have to change. Currently they sit in sixth place in the NCC, which would give them the number six seed in the NCC Tournament. That would pit them up against the likes of current number two seed Nebraska-Omaha, who they have lost to twice already this season.
If they don't want to meet teams like UNO and South Dakota State in the early rounds, they'll have to be at their best in the final two weeks of the regular season.
"We need to get back to the way we're capable of playing," Schlagel said. "That means shooting 45 to 50 percent per ball game, playing solid defense, and making good decisions with the basketball."
One way for the Huskies to combat their recent woes is to work the ball inside more. Forwards Rado Rancik, Jason Kron and B.J. Brant have to establish more of an inside presence. In fact, they just need to get the ball down more in the post.
The Huskies launched 51 treys this past weekend.
It's good when you're making them, but SCSU only made 20 (39 percent).
If the Huskies get the ball down in the paint more, their field goal percentage will rise, along with their victory total.
Andy Rennecke can be reached at: [email protected]
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