Bison cap regular season with wins

     The North Iowa Bison enter the basketball postseason on a high note, as they wrapped up their regular season with two wins last week. First up, the Bison took on North Butler during at Top of Iowa Conference crossover match on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Following a narrow defeat against the Wildcats in December, the Bison dominated North Butler last week, winning 50-23.

     "Overall, our total team defense held the Bearcats to five first half points – only one point in the second quarter – and did not allow a double-digit scoring quarter for the game," said Coach Chad Hinders. Hinders says the Bison also executed well on offense, as they made 40% of their two-point shots and went 39% from behind the three-point arc. Dominyk Price led the team in scoring with 14. Taylor Baumann was also in double digits with 13 points. Nathan Beenken was the leading rebounder, pulling down 10 rebounds on the night.

     Last Friday was the regular season finale, as the Bison hosted the Vikings of Northwood-Kensett in a 56-46 win.

     “The Vikings were missing a couple of players, but the younger ones definitely used their newfound playing time to open some eyes,” said Coach Hinders. “Our press was the savior tonight. We were able to force 25 turnovers and score 23 points off of them to open up the game late. We struggled in the first and third quarters but were able to put runs together in the second and fourth to give us the victory."

     Beenken led the Bison in scoring for the night with 23 points, followed by Isaiah Walk with 14. Walk led the way in rebounds with nine, followed by Baumann with seven.