This was about as gut-punching as it gets.

Northern State watched a five-point lead in the closing minutes slip away in a 66-63 men’s college basketball setback to Bemidji State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action the Wachs Arena Saturday night.

“We didn’t get stops down the stretch and things went as badly as they could have for us,” said Northern coach Matt Wilber. “I feel bad for our guys, because as tough as it was, that was the best defensive game we’ve played this year. We really fought and clawed. We made a lot of plays, we just didn’t make enough shots.”

When Joshua Brook hit a 3-pointer with 1:53 left, it gave the Wolves a 63-58 advantage. The Beavers missed a shot, but collected a rebound and made two free throws to close the gap. NSU missed a shot setting the stage for a wild final minute.

“From my end, I wish I would have called a timeout. Book had just hit a three. We had the ball,” Wilber said. “I let it play out. I probably should have called a time out and ran something for him. It was an empty possession.”

Bemidji executed a play to perfection which resulted in a dunk with 45 seconds left. The Wolves then had miscommunication inbounding the ball which resulted in a turnover at midcourt. The Beavers scored again to take the lead with 35 seconds left.

Northern missed a shot, was forced to foul and the Beavers pushed the lead to 66-63 with 5.8 seconds left. The Wolves then missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“It was a tough loss for how it shook out down the stretch. … And I hate losing games like that down the stretch where we had a chance to win,” Wilber said.

Brook finished with 22 points to lead the Wolves. Simon Akena added 12, and James Glynn followed with 10.

Wilber talked about his team’s shooting from 3-point range.

“I liked a lot of our shots, we just were 8-for-30. They’re open looks,” Wilber said. “They were shots we were going to try to get. We’ve got good shooters and I trust them.”

The Wolves will try to rebound when they play at Moorhead on Thursday.

“I thought down the stretch, with a lot of stuff, we did a lot of things really well,” Wilber said, “especially defensively and they just made a few more plays.”

To see a complete box score, click on the following link:

https://nsuwolves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2025-26/bemidji-state/boxscore/14113