Full Team Effort Leads to First Conference Victory for the Wolfpack

Bemidji, MN – In an impressive display of teamwork and skill, the Wolfpack secured a decisive victory over their Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent, Turtle Mountain College Mikinocks. With every player contributing, the team executed a well-rounded performance, blending strong defense, efficient ball movement, and timely scoring to outclass their opponents. The chemistry on the court was evident, as Oak Hills worked seamlessly together, locking down defensively and sharing the ball on offense.

The Wolfpack's defense was the highlight of the beginning part of the first half. With the team forcing 7 turnovers in 10 minutes and capitalizing on those turnovers and jumping out to a 24-9 lead by the 10 minute mark. Head Coach, Daved Lundeen, had this to say on his team's early defensive efforts, "We forced so many turnovers early in the game with our activity and discipline in our zone. When we're playing it like that we are a very difficult team to beat."

Fatigue may have started to set in towards the end of the half. With around 4:30 left in the half and the score at 33-19, the Mikinocks would go on a run and would outscore Oak Hills 12-2 to close the half. The Wolfpack would go into the locker room at the half only being up by 2 with a halftime score of 35-33.

Leading the home team, was freshman Noah Larson (Park Rapids, MN) who ended the half with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Also ending the half in double digit points, was freshman Ben Chavez Rodriguez (Woodbury, MN) who ended the half with 10 points and 3 steals.

The second half would start as a back and forth battle with both teams trading buckets until the 14:30 minute mark when a 3-pointer from Senior Alexander Gonzalez (Miami, FL) would spark a 12-2 run from the Wolfpack which included four 3-pointers from four different Oak Hills players. This would push the score to 58-44.

There would be another back and forth stretch, until a 3 minutes span and a 0-11 run from Turtle Mountain would bring the Mikinocks to within 5 with 6:30 left to play. With the score at 64-59, the last 6 minutes of play would see a last ditch effort from TMC to try to get the lead, but would only see OHCC's lead dwindle down to 3 points until the Wolfpack would rush back and end the game on a 16-2 run and a final score of 82-68.

As a team, the Wolfpack logged season highs in rebounds (41), steals (18), assists (17), and blocks (6). Oak Hills was led by Larson who ended the game with a double-double with game-highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds. Chavez-Rodriguez would finish the matchup with 16 points. Freshman Caleb Smoot (McDonough, GA) would also contribute a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. He would also add 4 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks to the night. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for the Wolfpack was freshman, Isaac Korell (Huron, SD) who added 11 points for the team.

The team captains were also great contributors on the night. Gonzalez added 9 points and 4 assists and Junior Bryson Keepers, (Sheldon, WI) was a major factor in all areas by contributing 9 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists for his team.

The Wolfpack will be back in action with a road game on Saturday December 7^th, where they will travel to Morris, MN to take on the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars at 1pm. They will also close out the 2024 year with two home games next week. They will take on the Itasca Vikings on 12/10 and the Free Lutheran Bible College Conquerors on 12/13.