Men's Basketball 11/8/2009 7:00:00 PM Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Sioux outlast Bemidji State, claim 65-63 victory in exhibition play

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Sophomore Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) had 16 points to lead the University of North Dakota men's basketball team to a 65-63 victory in a back-and-forth affair over Bemidji State at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Sunday.

Mitchell's 16 points led a trio of Sioux players in double figures as UND erased a seven-point deficit in the final eight minutes to rally for the win in the team's only exhibition game on the schedule.

“I thought our defense was pretty good in the first half and we really came out with a lot of energy,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “Our inability to score in the second half kind of carried over on the defensive end and they got hot and put some pressure on us. But, one thing about our guys is they find a way to win and we did that again today.”

Senior Dustin Monsebroten (Newfolden, Minn.) and junior Chris Clausen (Adelaide, Australia) each added 11 points in the victory for UND.

Mitchell broke a 59-59 tie with a pair of free throws with 1:01 remaining and the Sioux made four more from the stripe in the closing minute to secure the win. A desperation 3-point attempt by the Beavers' Seth Haake was off the mark as the final horn sounded.

BSU's Jake Lindstrom led all scorers with 17 points and his 3-pointer with 10 seconds on the clock pulled the Beavers to within a point at 64-63. Clausen then missed the front end of a one-and-one with eight ticks remaining, but took a charge on the ensuing possession to give the ball back to UND.

Monsebroten was fouled and made one of his two free throws before Haake's half-court attempt at a game-winner clanked off the backboard.

The Sioux built their largest lead of the game in the first half when a 3-pointer by Mike Mathison (Walhalla, N.D.) put UND ahead 31-20 with 1:09 to play, but five straight points by BSU's David Berthene in the final minute made it a 31-25 contest at the break.

The Beavers came out shooting much better in the second half after connecting on just 36.4 percent of their attempts in the first 20 minutes. Lindstrom went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and helped BSU claim a 50-43 advantage with 8:51 to play.

UND responded with a 13-0 run as Monsebroten had four points during the spurt and Clausen tied it up at 50-50 with his second 3-pointer of the contest. Back-to-back buckets by junior Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) gave the Sioux a six-point advantage, but the Beavers would not back down as their hot-shooting continued (8-for-14 from 3-point range in second half).

Lindstrom ended the Sioux run with another trifecta and after Haake drilled a 3-pointer to pull BSU back to within three at 59-56, Bryce Tesdahl pulled the visitors even with yet another long-range shot with 1:37 to play.

UND's final six points came from the charity stripe where the team went 20-for-29 (69 percent).

Benter, who got in early foul trouble with a pair of quick ones in the opening minute, scored seven points and grabbed all of his game-high nine boards after intermission. The Sioux held a 26-25 advantage in rebounds and also forced BSU into 16 turnovers, while committing just 10 of their own.

Haake finished with 15 points and Berthene added 14 for the Beavers, who also had three players reach double figures.

The Sioux will open their regular season on Friday against Montana in the Grizzly Basketball Classic. Tip-time is slated for 9 p.m. CT from Missoula, Mont. UND will play three games total in the classic as the Sioux will also play Loyola-Marymount on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT and Boise State on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

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