2005-2006 Season Review

Beavers Complete Fourth Straight Winning Season

     The MSU men’s basketball team finished the season 18-12 marking its fourth straight winning season.

     The Beavers finished third in Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) play with a record of 9-5.  Marking the fifth consecutive season that MSU has placed third or higher and has had a winning record in conference play.

     Following a slow start to the season, the Beavers played good basketball after the Christmas break.  They won 10 of 15 games including wins over the University of North Dakota and NAIA II #5 Mayville State.  Unfortunately, the Beavers could not win critical games at Black Hills State late in the season.

     In the last regular season game, the Beavers needed to win to place second in the DAC and earn home court advantage in the second round of the DAC playoffs.  Two late game turnovers allowed Black Hills to regain the lead and go on to a 71-61 overtime victory.  After beating South Dakota Tech 86-71 in the first round of the conference playoffs, the Beavers headed back to Spearfish, SD for a rematch with Black Hills.  In a game almost identical to the first one, the Beavers missed a lay-up to tie the game with eight seconds remaining and their season came to an end. 

     For the season, Courtney Haley led MSU in scoring at 17.8 points per game followed by Charles Rourk at 11.3 and TJ Collins at 10.5.  MSU was lead in rebounding by Jeremy Feller at 5.5 per game. 

     Haley was named First-Team All-Conference for the second consecutive year.  Haley also received Honorable Mention as a NAIA II All-American.  Rourk gained Third-Team All-Conference recognition.  Drew Hysjulien was named an NAIA Academic All-American.