Women lose fourth game in row
Not since 1981 has streak occurred
Two years ago, Phil Hahn, Andre Smith and Gilby Sanchez led North Dakota State College of Science to within one game of the Junior College National Tournament. Tonight at the Bison Sports Arena, the three friends will be together again.
However, Smith and Hahn will don the green and gold, while Sanchez will wear blue and white.
Sanchez leads a Mayville State University team that at the beginning of the week was ranked seventh in the NAIA Division II with a 20-4 record.
“ It is going to be a fun, emotion-filled game,” Smith said, “Gilby is a good player and Mayville isn’t a bad team.”
Sanchez, who leads the Comets in points and assists, was part of a talented NDSCS squad that sent players to Division I schools Marquette University, Illinois State University and NDSU.
“ He is going to come out and try to score,” senior guard Phil Hahn said. “He is playing against (Smith) and I, who went to a bigger school than he did. He is going to come out to prove something.”
NDSU enters the game with a 14-10 record in their first, full Division I season.
Smith has made an immediate contribution in his first year of play. The 6-foot-8-inch junior forward has been a dominant force in the paint, averaging 7.7 rebounds per game, good enough for third best among Division I independent schools.
With a win over Mayville — and Jamestown College earlier in the week — NDSU will be guaranteed a winning season for the fourth year in a row.
Despite their success thus far, the Bison know it can’t look past any opponent. After winning a game at Wisconsin as extreme underdogs, the Bison know in the game of basketball, anything can happen.