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| Smith, Flowers achieve career milestones in WSU sweep | ||||||||||
Matt Huss |
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| Basd on statistical and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau, it’s estimated that there are 50,111 people in America named ‘John Smith.’ The name has been so common throughout U.S. history that it’s often used as a generic title to represent the average person. But there is one John Smith who stands out among the rest. One who has transcended the average and entered the realm of the unique. One who has transformed a common name into a title that commands respect from most and induces fear in many opponents. On Friday night, in the Winona State University men’s basketball team’s 84-59 win over Concordia-St. Paul in front of 3,341 fans at McCown Gymnasium, the Warriors’ John Smith became the program’s all-time leading scorer, forever immortalizing his name in the record books. The 6-foot-8 senior center scored on a layup 48 seconds into the game to record his 2,061st point and pass former teammate David Zellmann, who finished his career in 2006 with a national title and 2,059 points. After the historic bucket, the game was stopped to allow Zellmann to congratulate Smith and give him the game ball. “I’m happy it’s done with and we can just focus on winning the rest of our games,” Smith said. “I don’t think it was too big of a distraction; I don’t think it made me play much differently, but I knew in that game I kind of had to do it quickly and get it over with.” However, the reigning Division II national player of the year had an opportunity to get the record and the ensuing congratulatory celebration out of the way 19 seconds earlier at the free-throw line. Smith swears he didn’t miss on purpose. “I’ve never purposely missed a free throw, and I didn’t then,” Smith laughed. “To tell you the truth, I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I felt shaky, and if you think you’re not going to do something, it won’t happen. I had friends telling me not do it with a free throw — there was so much going through my head.” Instead, Smith became WSU’s scoring king with a field goal, adding to another statistical category in which he ranks No. 1 all-time. The win over CSP also marked Smith’s 134th career game, breaking a Division II record shared by three players, including former teammate Zach Malvik. Smith scored six of WSU’s first eight points, but the Golden Bears hung around early. Matt Hackl hit a 3-pointer to bring CSP within one, 14-13. Jonte Flowers and David Johnson each hit two free throws, and Travis Whipple and Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 10-0 WSU run. The Warriors never led by fewer than eight points in cruising to a 47-26 lead at the half, and the second of back-to-back 3-pointers by Bryce Welch gave WSU it’s largest lead of the night, 84-48, with 3:16 remaining in the game. Johnson went 6 of 9 from beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 23 points for the Warriors, who shot 54.2 percent (13-for-24) from 3-point range. Smith ended his career night with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, eight rebounds and five blocks. Flowers scored 18 points and added five steals, but his career night was yet to come. Saturday’s 85-63 WSU win over MSU-Moorhead drew the largest crowd of the year, and although the 3,492 fans in attendance were missing the NBA slam dunk contest, Flowers made up for it, putting on a show of his own. The senior guard shredded MSUM’s zone defenses, scoring a career-high 40 points and highlighting an unforgettable night with an unforgettable dunk in leading the Warriors (27-1, 16-0) to their 21st consecutive win overall and their 46th straight victory in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. “Their zone defense was a big part of their game, and what you want to do is get in the middle. Luckily, I was able to get to the right places at the right times, and my teammates continued to find me,” Flowers said. “I just put it up there, and the ball was going through the basket. Kind of a good day for me, I guess.” WSU’s single-game scoring record is 51 points by Herschel Lewis against Michigan Tech on Feb. 18, 1972. The last WSU player to score 40 points in a game was Carter Glad, who had 47 against Moorhead State on Feb. 18, 1989 — a night after dropping 45 points on Southwest State. Glad went for 40-plus points eight times in his career and scored 30-plus points 19 times. He ranks 13th at WSU in career scoring (1,367) — six places and 271 points behind Flowers. Flowers’ previous best was 34 points, which came earlier this season. He went 13 for 15 from the field and 5 for 6 from beyond the arc to lead WSU to an 87-60 win over Northern State on Dec. 1. Unlike in that blowout victory over the Wolves, the Warriors had trouble shaking a scrappy Dragons squad early on. A 3-pointer by Quincy Henderson gave WSU its largest lead of the first half, 17-9, but MSUM fought back to take its first lead, 22-20, on a short jumper by Craig Williams with 8:48 remaining. Flowers scored nine of the Warriors’ next 19 points to give WSU a 39-35 halftime lead. Two minutes into the second half, Flowers hit a jumper to push the lead to eight points, but the Dragons refused to go away, cutting the deficit to 49-45 on a Justyn Burgess layup. Like they’ve done all year, however, the Warriors stuck the dagger. Henderson hit two free throws, and Flowers followed his lone 3-pointer of the night with a tip-in to push the lead to 56-45. Frustration built for the Dragons and exploded when Flowers’ aggressive defense forced MSUM point guard Grant Fossum to lose control of the ball. During the scramble, Fossum appeared to take a swing at Flowers, earning him a technical foul. MSUM coach Stu Engen stormed onto the court in a rage, earning him a quick technical and an ejection. Flowers knocked down all four free throws resulting from the technicals and followed with a dunk on the ensuing WSU possession. After MSUM’s sixth straight miss from the field, Henderson was fouled and went 1 for 2 from the free-throw line, capping a 14-0 WSU run to make it 63-45 with 9:37 remaining. “We never really have lapses, and sometimes other teams will make a run but we stay really consistent and don’t let teams go off,” Smith said. “If they show weakness, we take advantage. We’re kind of like a machine, just running on the same cylinders, especially when we get to that 15- or 10-minute mark, we just start pouring it on; it’s like the pressure is off.” A free throw by Flowers pushed WSU’s lead to 24. And with the dagger already stuck, Flowers twisted it. A MSUM turnover at midcourt led to a 2-on-0 WSU break the other way. Ben Fischer jogged toward the hoop with Flowers trailing. The freshman point guard tossed the ball off the backboard, and Flowers caught it at its highest point before bringing it down hard. All that was missing was the cape. “I told Ben, ‘Backboard, backboard,’ and he went off of it and it just played out perfect,” Flowers laughed. “It came off the backboard just right, and I got up there and finished.” The highlight-reel dunk was the icing on an incredible night. Flowers went 15 for 21 from the field and 9 for 12 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds, three assists and a steal. The three-time defending NSIC defensive player of the year is eight steals shy of passing Missouri Southern State’s Eddie Santiago (383) for the all-time Division II record. Flowers, who has 376 career steals, is currently tied for sixth all-time among NCAA players on any level of competition. Smith had 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, seven rebounds and four blocks. He currently ranks No. 10 all-time in rebounding among Division II players (1,250) and second in blocks (405). He also ranks No. 24 all-time in blocked shots among NCAA players of all levels and is eight blocks shy of passing Shaquille O’Neal (Louisiana State) for 20th. |
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