Bison vs Augustana

[BisonMav]

Bison Women win big 95-76.

SUE losing to SDSU.

[BisonMav]

Bison men up 62-58, 2 minutes to play.

[BisonMav]

Bison 65-60 1:23 to go

[89rabbit]

Do you guys have a final yet?

[BisonMav]

13 seconds left Bison 70-63

[NDSU_grad]

70-63 for the good guys. Augi made it an ugly game, but we pulled it out.

[89rabbit]

Congrats, tomorrow's game will be HUGE!

[BisonMav]

Congrats Jacks, look forward to tomorrow.

[89rabbit]

Here is what the Argus Leader (Sioux Falls paper) had to say about your win.

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Saturdayarticle7.shtml

Viking men suffer disappointing defeat
Stu Whitney
swhitney@argusleader.com

published: 1/24/2004

NDSU defense clamps down in crunch time

It would have been a memorable win for Augustana men's basketball coach Tom Billeter, whose team surged back from a sizable second-half deficit against first-place North Dakota State.

Instead, it was just another frustrating loss.

The Bison clamped down during crunch time to claim a 70-63 victory in Friday's North Central Conference clash at the Elmen Center, running their win streak to 10 games.

For Billeter, who coached NDSU from 1992-97, it was a series of missed opportunities in the final five minutes that kept Augustana (5-13, 1-4 NCC) from beating his former school.

"I'd like to have a good answer for you, but they just guarded us," said Billeter, whose team has dropped three straight since beating South Dakota at home on Jan. 10. "They did a good job of defended the right guys at the right time."

CoCo Cofield scored 19 points and Jack May had 14 for the Bison (12-6, 5-0), which held onto first place in the NCC entering tonight's key battle against South Dakota State in Brookings.

But it wasn't easy, as most visitors to the Elmen Center have discovered this season. After leading by as many as 14 points in the second half, NDSU twice saw its advantage cut to two points during the last 5:05 of the game.

"This is a tough place to play," said Cofield, a senior guard whose four free throws in the final two minutes helped seal the win. "(Augustana) just grinds it out and keeps fighting back, so we needed to stay focused on our game plan."

Much of that meant keeping an eye on the Vikings' Justin Van Meeteren, who scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half to keep Augustana in the game.

The senior forward scored off an offensive rebound to pull the Vikings within 62-60 with 2:44 remaining. But NDSU finished with a 10-3 run as Augustana struggled with turnovers and missed shots the rest of the way.

Though they shot 52 percent from the field in the second half, the Vikings were just 1-for-9 overall from 3-point range while committing 19 turnovers in the loss.

"At the end of the game, it comes down to execution of plays, and we had some trouble getting guys in position," said Van Meeteren, who grabbed nine rebounds to help Augustana outboard the Bison 32-31.

"It just seems like we've been spotting teams big leads early in the game and playing catch-up -Êwhich is a tough way to win."

Chris Harris added 11 points and Justin Vortherms and Nick Olson had 10 apiece for the Vikings, who nearly gave their coach a big-time win against the program he lifted to prominence in the 1990s.

Billeter compiled a 97-50 record at NDSU from 1992-97, producing four straight 20-win seasons and four trips to the NCAA Division II regionals.

"He wanted it, and we wanted it for him," said Van Meeteren. "It would have been nice, especially against the hottest team in the conference."

Coming off last weekend's wins over Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota, the Bison shot 50 percent in the first half and led 16-6 after a baseline jumper from May.

May scored eight points before halftime for NDSU, which took advantage of several Augie defensive lapses to control the action.

The Vikings pulled within 19-14 on an inside bucket from Harris with nine minutes remaining in the first half.

But NDSU's back-door passes produced three straight uncontested layups -Êtwo by Andy Kelchen and one by May -Êas the Bison jumped back into a 25-14 advantage.

Augustana, boosted by a late trifecta from Van Meeteren, pulled within 29-21 by the time the teams headed to the locker room.

In the second half, NDSU came out firing and grabbed a 51-37 lead on two free throws by Ben Nemmers with 12:05 left in the game.

"We were really clicking on offense, and then we hit a dry spell," said Bison coach Tim Miles, whose team has stormed back after starting the season 0-5.

"Augie had a lot to do with that, of course. One thing about Tom Billeter-coached teams is that they're always going to fight you."

The Vikings pulled within 60-58 on two free throws with 5:05 left in the game and then got the ball back off a Bison turnover.

But senior guard Rod Henry, who shot 1-for-8 for the game, misfired on consecutive possessions as neither team managed a point for nearly two minutes.

Finally, Nemmers intercepted a pass from Olson to Van Meeteren off a broken Augustana play, and his layup gave the Bison a 62-58 lead that they wouldn't relinquish -Êthough there was still sweating to be done.

"I enjoyed having an opportunity to play against NDSU, and it was a fun situation," said Billeter, whose team hosts North Dakota tonight. "But it was also a tough loss, because I like my players a lot, and I want them to be rewarded for the way they work."

[BisonMav]

Listening to the pre-game last night, Billeter said he really misses Fargo. I bet if NDSU wanted a game with Augustana in the future, they would play the Bison. Billeter wouldn't make up all these BS excusses the UND family comes up with. Billeter is a class act.

[89rabbit]

You are probably right. Augustana has been much more "Grown up" about our moves then others in the NCC. SDSU is playing them in Football next year and I would not be surprised to see then on our Basketball schedule as well.