By: Andrew Gavin (@GBGavin)
GreenBayPhoenix.com

FARGO, N.D. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - Senior Steve Baker (St. Paul, Minn.) and sophomore Alec Brown (Winona, Minn.) each scored 16 points Wednesday night, but visiting Green Bay (1-2) fell 65-61 at undefeated North Dakota State (4-0) in non-conference men's basketball action.

After trailing for the majority of the second half, the Phoenix took a 55-54 turnaround jumper by Brown with 2:37 to play. Dylan Hale made a pair of free throws to put the Bison back in front, and Mike Felt followed a Phoenix turnover with a three to make it 59-55 NDSU with 1:19 to play.

Three free throws from Brown cut the lead to 60-58, but the Bison made five of six free throws in the final minute to seal the win. Felt had a game-high 17 points off the Bison bench, including five makes from long range.

North Dakota State, who came in shooting over 51 percent from the field, was held to just 37.3 percent (22-59) Wednesday. However, Green Bay was doomed by 18 turnovers and struggled to just 5-of-21 from long range.

"We played pretty solidly defensively but we had key defensive breakdowns," said head coach Brian Wardle. "I think the key stats were our assist-to-turnover ratio compared to theirs. Turnovers have been an issue, and something we have been worried about with our young guys handling the ball so much."

Brown had seven points and six rebounds at halftime as Green Bay trailed 34-31, but the 7-foot-1 center took just three shots in the period. He finished the game with eight rebounds and a season-high five blocked shots.

"He had a sprained ankle that he hurt yesterday, and I think in the first half he was tentative and was thinking about it," said Wardle. "Second half he was a different man. His mentality was different. He was aggressive and we got him the ball because he was more physical."

Fueled by five early points from Baker, the Phoenix jumped out to a 9-2 lead with 17:43 to play. After four points from NDSU, buckets from Baker and freshman Keifer Sykes (Chicago, Ill.) put the Phoenix back in front by seven (13-6).

Baker scored his 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. Sykes finished with career highs in points (9) and assists (5), but the true freshman point guard also committed five of Green Bay's 18 turnovers.

The Bison scored the next nine points to take the lead with 9:26 left and held it until Brown's jumper with just over two minutes left in the game.

Green Bay trailed 18-16 on the glass at the break, but seven second-half rebounds from junior Brennan Cougill (Sioux City, Iowa) and five from sophomore Daniel Turner (McCordsville, Ind.) helped the Phoenix finish the game with a 42-36 rebounding edge. Cougill had a team-high nine rebounds.

The Phoenix returns home on Saturday and will host Wyoming at 7 p.m. at the Resch Center. The Festival Foods Family Game offers tickets as low as $9 for adults and $7 for children as well as $1 hot dogs and sodas.

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NORTH DAKOTA STATE 65, GREEN BAY 61

GREEN BAY (1-2)
BAKER, Steve 6-11 2-2 16; BROWN, Alec 5-9 6-9 16; SYKES, Keifer 4-9 1-2 9; ARMSTEAD, Aaron 3-9 0-0 7; TURNER, Daniel 2-4 0-0 5; CERRONI, Kam 1-2 0-0 3; COUGILL, Brennan 1-4 1-1 3; WILLIAMS, Jarvis 1-6 0-0 2; HEUER, Clayton 0-1 0-0 0; JOHNSON, Terry 0-3 0-0 0; MAYS, Greg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 10-14 61.

NORTH DAKOTA STATE (4-0)
FELT, Mike 6-12 0-0 17; ALEXANDER, Lawrence 3-7 6-8 12; BJORKLUND, Marshall 5-10 1-2 11; WRIGHT, TrayVonn 3-12 3-4 9; BRAUN, Taylor 2-8 2-5 6; HALE, Dylan 2-8 2-2 6; AABERG, Jordan 1-1 0-0 2; ZASTROW, Nate 0-0 2-2 2; LUNDBERG, Drew 0-0 0-0 0; LINDBERG, Joel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 16-23 65.

Green Bay..........................   31   30  -   61
North Dakota State............   34   31  -   65