BOX SCORE

MARSHALL, Minn. – Brock Lutes – the NSIC's second leading scorer – poured in a game-high 26 points, while teammate Maxie Rosenbloom added 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Bemidji State to big 91-82 road victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night.

The victory was BSU's eighth straight, the longest in team history since the 1973-74 season. Zach Noreen also had a big game for the Beavers pouring in 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

SMSU held a 71-69 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game, but BSU answered with a 12-0 run in the next three and a half minutes to build an 81-71 lead and never looked back in earning its fifth straight victory over SMSU since Feb. 18, 2011. The game featured 10 lead changes and 10 ties.

BSU improves to 15-4 overall, 12-3 NSIC, while SMSU drops to 13-8 overall, 10-5 NSIC.

Nick Smith led SMSU with 19 points on 9 of 10 shooting, while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. William Giddings added 16 points, while Vinard Birch, Matt Zager and Joey Bartlett also chipped in with 11 points apiece.

Zager became the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points with a field goal at the 18:50 mark of the second half. He is the second SMSU player (Nick Smith) to reach the milestone this season.

BSU finished the game shooting 61 percent (33 of 54) from the field, including 11 of 19 from 3-point range. The Beavers shot 70 percent in the second half and made five of seven 3-point attempts.

SMSU ended the game shooting 54 percent (35 of 65) from the field, but made just 6 of 25 3-point field goals attempts. BSU held a 32-22 rebound advantage, marking just the fourth time this season SMSU has been outrebounded.

BSU built an early 14-8 lead in the first five minutes of the game before SMSU rallied with a 13-2 run over the next three and a half minutes to take a 25-18 lead following a dunk by William Giddings.

SMSU maintained the lead until the 4:26 mark of the first half when BSU's Rosenbloom capped a 5-0 run to give the Beavers a 33-31 advantage. SMSU answered back and took a 37-33 lead with 3:18 remaining following a layup by Mitch Weg and back-to-back field goals from Birch.

BSU closed the half with six straight points - capped by a Noreen field goal – to give BSU a 39-37 halftime lead. Noreen led the Beavers with 11 first half points on 5 of 7 shooting.

Smith paced SMSU in the opening half with 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting with five rebounds.

The game was tied several times in the early stages of the second half before BSU put together a 13-4 run to build a 66-57 lead with 10:42 left in the game. SMSU wouldn't go away and slowly chipped into the lead before Giddings connected on a 3-pointer and then completed a three-point play following a dunk to make the score 66-63. SMSU completed the comeback with a Weg layup to tie the game at 68 at the 7:44 mark.

BSU regained the lead moments later on a free throw, but Bartlett connected on a 3-pointer on SMSU's next possession to give SMSU a 71-69 lead with 7:08 remaining. Noreen tied the game with a layup at the 6:39 mark starting BSU's game-changing run.

Southwest Minnesota State closes the weekend tomorrow night hosting Minnesota Crookston for the annual "Hawaiian Night" game starting at 7 p.m.