The Lumberjacks, earlier in the week, went down to Bismarck and won in overtime over the Mystics 92-88. To end the week, the Lumberjacks squared of with Lake Region State College Royals and Northland Community College Pioneers. The Lumberjacks looked to get over .500 and win a much-needed conference game against the Royals in the Woodshed.
On Wednesday the Lumberjacks hosted the Royals and looked to go toe to toe with them. Early in the game the two teams went back and forth. The Royals pulled ahead at halftime, with the scoring reading 47-39. In the second half, the Royals took control of the Lumberjacks as they scored 61 points. Clarence Daniels had a big night for the Royals, as he tallied up 31 points. The Lumberjacks were led in scoring by DeAngelo Bell who shot 28 points. Coming off the bench, Surafel Berhanie dumped in 18 points, Loukas Triantis (14) and Woodson Baptiste (12) also scored in the double figures.
Coming off the loss, the Lumberjacks looked to end the week with a win against the Northland Community College Pioneers. The game was rescheduled from earlier in the year when the two teams had to cancel due to weather.
This time the Lumberjacks flipped the script compared to what happened against the Royals. Both the Pioneers and Lumberjacks played close in the first half before a late bucket with a few seconds remaining by the Lumberjacks, giving them a 39-37 lead at the half. In the second half, the Lumberjacks came out firing, knocking down eight three-pointers in the first six minutes. Berhanie had four of those three-pointers, ending the game with 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds. Berhanie helped lead the Lumberjacks in scoring 63 points in the second half to give the Lumberjacks a 102-71 victory.
Coach Sorby was pleased with his team after the week they had saying, "I am really proud of everyone in our program for their response to the adversity we have faced since coming back from Christmas break. We have had travel issues, COVID issues, postponing a game, having only six guys available for a couple games, etc. These have all been obstacles our program has come up against over the last three weeks. Over that time, we have been able to not only compete, but win games during that time. I never heard any complaining or excuses from anyone in our program and I commend them for their ability to overcome the obstacles in their path"!
When asked what players stood out over the last few games he said, "We have had some guys really playing at a high level over these last few games. DeAngelo Bell has been such an offensive threat for us. His scoring, his ability to set others up to score, and his assist numbers are all coming together really well now. Woodson Baptiste has been averaging double figures for us in points since he started playing and has had a couple games of double-digit rebounds as well. Surafel Berhanie has really come on for us not just as a shooter, but a guy who can score off the dribble as well. I am excited to see him develop as a playmaker where he sets other guys up down the stretch. Deron McDaniel has had some really good games carrying us offensively. We know at any point he can put points up for us in a hurry".
This week the Lumberjacks will travel out to Montana where they will face off with the Pioneers from Miles City. Afterword, they will travel up to Glendive, Montana to square off with the Dawson Community College Buccaneers. They will play the Pioneers on Wednesday night and the Buccaneers on Thursday night in two Mon-Dak Conference games.