WOODSIDE’S 60 NOT ENOUGH IN 3-OT LOSSDES MOINES, Iowa – Pete Maravich, Stephen Curry, Lance Berwald … move over.
North Dakota State’s Ben Woodside became part of college basketball lore after he scored 60 points Friday night in Drake University’s Knapp Center.
The 60 points is the highest single-game scoring output of the NCAA Division I season, surpassing the two 44-point outputs by Curry, Davidson’s All-American guard. It not only shattered the Knapp Center scoring record by 21 points, it broke the NDSU single-game scoring record of 53 points set by Berwald in 1984.
Perhaps even more astounding is Woodside made 30 of 35 free throws – tying the NCAA record of free throws made set in 1969, when Louisiana State legend Pete Maravich made 30 of 31 free throws in a game against Oregon State.
Oh, by the way, Woodside and North Dakota State lost in three overtimes 112-111 to Stephen F. Austin in the first round of the Hy-Vee Classic – prompting the Drake student section to give Woodside a standing ovation when the 2-hour, 40-minute marathon finally ended.
“It was one of the best individual performances that I’ve ever seen,” said Stephen F. Austin coach Danny Kaspar, dropping names like Andrew Toney and Larry Nance of players he’s gone against in his 18 years of coaching.
“I don’t know if a coach could ask for any more out of any human being,” said Bison head coach Saul Phillips.
Woodside’s 60 points, eight assists and eight rebounds came in a city located about two hours south of his hometown of Albert Lea, Minn. His scoring outburst came against a Stephen F. Austin team that was ranked second nationally in scoring defense, giving up only 49.3 points per game.
His performance that vaulted him to the No. 2 slot on NDSU’s all-time scoring list (passing Jeff Askew and Joe Regnier) came in a game in which the Bison trailed 20-2 after the first 7½ minutes.
But the majority of his scoring came after the Bison trailed 63-44 with 9:04 left of regulation. Woodside scored 49 of his points during the final 8:50 of regulation and the 15 minutes of three overtimes.
“It was one of the best college basketball games I’ve been a part of,” Woodside said. “In a game like that, the adrenalin is flowing. You live for moments like that.”
Here are some shining moments:
- With 44.7 seconds left of regulation, Woodside drained two free throws to tie the score at 78-78. His offbalanced baseline jumper bounced off the rim, sending the game into overtime.
- With the Bison trailing 89-86 in the first overtime, Woodside penetrated into the lane before dishing out to Brett Winkelman, who drained a 3-pointer to tie the score.
- With 28.7 seconds left of the second overtime, Woodside’s two free throws gave the Bison a 100-97 lead. But Josh Alexander, last year’s Southland Conference player of the year, scored on a 3-point play to tie the score with 15 seconds left.
- In the final overtime and the Bison trailing 110-108, Woodside penetrated again – this time bumping into the Lumberjacks’ 6-foot-9 center Matt Kingsley.
“I knew I couldn’t shoot over him, so I had to scoop it under him,” Woodside said. “And I knew I had to put a little extra spin on the ball for it to go in.”
The shot dropped, Kingsley fouled him and Woodside drained another free throw to give the Bison a 111-110 lead with 18.1 seconds left.
With 4.4 seconds left, Walt Harris spun into the lane and sank a five-footer to give the Lumberjacks a 112-111 lead.
The Bison were awarded a timeout with three-tenths of a second left. Inbounding from under the Bison basket, Woodside lobbed the ball to Winkelman. But his quick shot bounced off the side of the rim.
“I had to make it a tip-in because of the time,” Winkelman said. “I got it clean. I honestly thought it was going in.”
Even though Woodside was upset with the loss, his performance goes down at the 21st-highest NCAA single-game scoring total vs. a Division I opponent.
“I have mixed emotions right now,” Woodside said, sitting on a bench outside the Bison locker room.
Moments later, Stephen F. Austin’s Kaspar told Woodside he would see him in the NCAA tournament.
“He’s got to be tired, that’s for sure,” Kaspar said, shaking his head. “We didn’t have anyone to stop him. But instead of blaming our guys’ defense, I would rather praise him. He was unbelievable.”
The Bison now have to prepare for today’s 5 p.m. game against Georgia Southern – a loser to host Drake.
“We better find a gas station tonight, because our gas tank was empty,” said Phillips, who struggled to find words to describe Woodside’s performance. “You simply run out of adjectives.”
SFA (5-2): Alexander 9-17 3-7 24, Shaw 5-6 0-0 12, Kingsley 7-14 9-11 23, Bell 3-3 0-0 8, Williams 11-18 1-3 25, Adams 2-8 4-4 8, Harris 3-3 3-3 9, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, McDaniel 0-3 2-4 2, Akpan 0-3 1-2 1, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Scott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 40-78 (FG), 23-34 (FT).
NDSU (4-3): Winkelman 7-16 0-0 17, Tveidt 3-7 0-1 6, Moormann 5-7 0-0 10, Woodside 14-32 30-35 60, Nelson 4-9 0-0 12, Flowers 0-0 0-0 0, Coleman 0-2 0-0 0, Pennick 1-1 1-2 3, Carlson 1-4 1-2 3, Vaughan 0-0 0-0 0, Sussenguth 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 35-78 (FG), 32-40 (FT).
Halftime: SFA 35, NDSU 28. 3-point goals: SFA 9-19 (Alexander 3-6, Shaw 2-2, Bell 2-2, Williams 2-3), NDSU 9-22 (Winkelman 3-7, Woodside 2-6, Nelson 4-7). Total fouls: SFA 32, NDSU 27. Fouled out: Shaw, Williams, Adams, Moormann, Nelson. Rebounds: SFA 42 (Kingsley 13, Williams 7), NDSU 48 (Winkelman 10, Tvedit 8, Woodside 8, Carlson 6). Assists: SFA 15 (Shaw 3, Williams 3, Adams 3), NDSU 12 (Woodside
. Steals: SFA 5 (Kingsley 2), NDSU 8 (Winkelman 3). Turnovers: SFA 15, NDSU 13 (Winkelman 4, Woodside 4).
NDSU’s Top 10 all-time scorers
Here are the top 10 single-game scoring marks for the NDSU men’s basketball team:
Player Pts Date Opponent
1. Ben Woodside 60 12/12/08 Stephen F. Austin
2. Lance Berwald 53 12/7/84 Minn. St. Mankato
3. (tie) Marv Bachmeier 47 1/19/60 Concordia-Moorhead
3. (tie) Marv Bachmeier 47 2/6/60 at Morningside
5. Marv Bachmeier 46 12/13/58 Northern Iowa
6. (tie) Denver TenBroek 43 1/25/03 at Augustana (S.D.)
6. (tie) Marv Bachmeier 43 2/12/60 Northern Iowa
8. (tie) Lance Berwald 42 2/17/84 at Augustana (S.D.)
8. (tie) Ron McLeod 42 2/10/62 Morningside
10. (tie) Ben Woodside 39 11/19/07 at Tennessee Tech
10. (tie) Brett Winkelman 39 12/8/07 at Centenary