Vikings
The Pick Six will be up tomorrrow...
Bison
It was a light pre-Thanksgiving week around the Valley & NDSU was no exception. The majority of the competition came courtesy of the men's Basketball getting tropical in the Bahamas. Miami of Ohio put the screws to the Bison in the second half of game one. The 10 man rotation was shortened as the deficit grew but coach Richman wasn't able to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Among the adjustments in the next one was that they went 11 deep against Incarnate word. Whatever other strings that were pulled worked well enough to force an overtime game but NDSU came up two points short in bonus time. The upward swing continued from there as they closed out their play in the tournament against Towson. They beat up the Tigers like the Football team in a championship game! Each of the eight players that saw the court scored at least five points and Tyree Eady paced the way to a 76 - 51 victory with 14 points. All three games had their own flavor but seemed like a wise decision in the pursuit of team learning. Now they have a week off to prepare for the toughest matches of the season.
Back to Friday, the Volleyball and Wrestling teams also put in time before the weekend. The former spiked their way to a 3-1 win over Omaha while the men of the mat pinned a one point win over Fresno State. Volleyball came back yesterday against South Dakota but got a taste of their own medicine, losing 3-1. The Wrestlers closed out the week with in California but results have still not yet been posted.
Which leaves only the Football team. Their record setting senior class closed out their final regular season game in epic fashion against Southern Illinois. You can see more about that one in the Pick Six. They also were officially informed of their standing as the #1 seed in the FCS postseason. You can see the bracket guess here & make your own guess while you're there!
Dragons
The Dragons men's Basketball team had a three game winning streak capped with a half exhibition game against Concordia. It counted from Moorhead State but not the Cobbers. MSUM had three players with at least 18 points, lead by Gavin Baumgartner's 24 & another 10 from Johnny Beeninga. That's a pretty even offensive attack but could it continue against more equal opponents? They would find out during a four games in four days trip north of the border. Addison Park & Travaun Coad continued their hot starts to the year and were joined by the aforementioned duo atop the scoring for Moorhead. The four scoremen and little else wasn't quite enough this time as they fell by four points in game one to Western Washington. On the heels of that they dropped their game against something called "Simon Fraser" by 11 points. They returned to the court this afternoon & either were playing a D4 school or have some frustration to get out because they battered "Langara." 116 - 50. 11 players scored, six got to double figures with Briton Bussman putting 20 through off the bench in 28 minutes. 47 rebounds, 11 steals(!). They shot over 55% for the game. Pun fully intended, they torched them! That's gonna be a tough act to follow but could make for a fun day tomorrow as well.
And that's just the beginning. The women's Basketball team did a two step in Michigan to bookend the weekend. First was Michigan Tech who, despite holding the Dragons to 10 & under by every player, only won by 11. Jacky Volkert & Megan Hintz were the only ones able to crack double figures. From there they travelled North for a Sunday afternoon affair against Northern Michigan. Natalie Steichen poured in 17 for the fire breathers but that was nearly double or more than double of the output of any of her teammates on the way to a seven point loss that could have been worse if not for a 7 point win in the fourth quarter.
Which leaves only the mat heads and running bunch. The Wrestlers had positive results from their meets in Nebraska. For the full outcomes, check the release! Meanwhile Cross Country participated in the NCAA regional. The men were lead once again by Josh Young's top 20 run and finished with a collective fourth place. Kathryn Sistrunk lead for the ladies but was behind 49 other runners and her squad scraped to an 18th place finish. The men didn't manage an automatic qualifier but may still get an at-large bid into the national meet. No matter what the NCAA decides, that's a successful season!
Cobbers
The Corn cobs started their week with another exhibition game by men's Basketball against Moorhead State. The results were what you may expect from the intra-level contest but Concordia had some positives from this one as well. Bryden Urie, Collin Larson & Jordan Davis all scored in double figures while a trio of bench players added to the scoreboard. If they weren't ready for the season after that pair of exhibitions then nothing would get them there. They wouldn't have to wait long to get an answer as they traveled to Morris to start their season Thursday. In addition to Urie & Larson, Thomas Schyma, Cal Wright & Jacob Fredrickson all scored in double figures. Schyma also lead the way with six assists & had the second most boards. That's an impressive stat line & a well balance offensive line for the team but they came up one point short in the second half after coming back from an eight point halftime deficit. The wait for their next chance to get a victory would come a couple days later in a trip to Crookston to face Oak Hills. This time it was Adam Daggett who joined the scoring party with a team leading 18 off the bench on the way to a 79 - 60 victory. They closed out the week today against Crookston but probably wish they could have come home last night. Crookston out scored them by double figures in each half en route to a 94 - 65 victory by the home team. If you want a silver lining it would be that Bryden Urie got 25 but 29 point losses are scant on positives, which is unfortunate considering how they did just a few hours earlier! Back to the drawing board, but like so many others, they've got time to rebound from it.
The lady Basketball players also started their week with a visit by Valley City. Amber Lingen & Mira Ellefson tied with a game high 22 but needed more from their teammates during the middle half of the game. It didn't come and they weren't able to make up the group in the fourth quarter - despite a good effort to do just that! They'll have nearly two weeks to figure out how to be more balanced or effective.
The Hockey teams each faced Bethel on Friday and despite being seperated by a couple hundred miles, came off the ice with identical 3 - 3 ties. The similarities extend into the box scores as each team got their goals from three different players. Saturday featured rematches by all teams with dramatically different results. The men netted the puck four times off four different sticks while allowing zero into their net. Back in Moorhead the women's team allowed Bethel to score the last one of their contest but had preceded that with three of their own from three different players.
The Auqathletes sank against the university of Mary by 120 points.
The Wrestling team had the Cobber open and posted a wide swath of results. Peek at that as you wish.
Timberwolves
The difference that a week makes! One trade & a couple games played are the difference of another lottery bound season and being a playoff team that's cohesive, is playing defense & seems to enjoy playing together. It's a remarkable change & improvement! If your a Wolves fan or just a hoops fan you need to tune in to this teams games!
High School Sports
The final championships went in the books for the prep level as Bismarck Century & Thompson took home the trophies for Volleyball.
With that in mind, it's hoops time so take a look at the Basketball previews that have already come out, with a couple more to come!