North Dakota

Men’s basketball: St. Thomas lives up to hype, rolls past North Dakota State

Published

11 months ago

February 3, 2025

Men’s basketball: St. Thomas lives up to hype, rolls past North Dakota State

A matchup against a perennial Summit League power, a national cable television audience, and a sold-out crowd that included Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and team president Tim Connelly.

There were a lot of reasons for St. Thomas freshman guard Nolan Minessale and his teammates to be excited Sunday afternoon, but the Tommies managed to keep their emotions in check and focus on the task at hand.

That composure paid off as St. Thomas jumped in front of North Dakota State early and never looked back, cruising to a 79-62 victory at Schoenecker Arena.

“There was a lot of hype around this game, but we went in with the mindset that every game is a big game for us,” said Minesalle, a graduate of Milwaukee’s Marquette University High School, who led St. Thomas with 23 points Sunday.

“We came out with a lot of energy, and that was the spark right away.”

The Tommies did indeed come out of the gates quickly, racing to a 24-8 lead with 11:50 to play in the first half. St. Thomas began the game 5 for 10 from behind the 3-point line, led by two from junior guard Kendall Blue.

NDSU, meanwhile, started just 2 for 8 (25 percent) from the field and turned the ball over four times, setting the stage for an afternoon when the Bison turned the ball over 15 times in all.

“Being in gaps early, rebounding and limiting them to one shot on each possession – I thought we did a good job of all that (Sunday),” said Blue, an East Ridge High School graduate who finished with 20 points.

The Tommies increased their lead to 45-26 at halftime, and to as much as 22 early in the second half. The Bison (16-8 overall, 5-4 Summit) did cut the gap to as little as 11 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Tajavis Miller with 3:02 remaining.

But that was as close as NDSU got.

“They played with great spirit and a lot of fire,” Bison coach David Richman said. “It was a tremendous atmosphere, and I think they got behind that.

“For lack of a better term, they overwhelmed us.”

With the victory, St. Thomas (18-6, 8-1 Summit) pulls back into a first-place tie with Omaha (14-10, 8-1 Summit) atop the conference standings. The Mavericks dealt the Tommies their only conference loss of the season, winning 89-78 on Jan. 23 in Omaha.

The two teams are scheduled to clash again on Feb. 15 in St. Paul.

“I don’t think we look at the standings much because then you’re worrying about things you can’t control,” said Tommies head coach Johnny Tauer, whose team is still in just its fourth season at the Division I level.

“But certainly, if you’d asked us three years ago where do you think you’re going to be, I don’t know that anybody would have predicted this. In the preseason, there were about 40 votes cast, and not one of them picked St. Thomas to win the conference. I don’t blame people, and we don’t use that as motivation. I just think this team is really good about taking it one game at a time.”

That approach proved successful Sunday in an atmosphere Tauer called electric.

“When you show up 90 minutes before the game, and there are students lined up outside the arena, I don’t remember that happening before,” said Tauer, whose team picked up its 15th straight home victory. “I think in some ways, this was sort of the culmination of what we’ve been trying to build.

“It’s certainly not an end point, but it’s one of those markers.”

Originally Published: February 2, 2025 at 8:08 PM CST

Source link

North Dakota

As ACA tax credits expire, a North Dakota rural hospital braces for 2026

Published

9 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

As ACA tax credits expire, a North Dakota rural hospital braces for 2026

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – With federal health care tax credits set to expire, rural hospitals in the state warn the ripple effect could strain their budgets while they are already operating on thin margins.

The Emergency Department at Jamestown Regional Medical Center is gearing up for more patients to come into their doors, uninsured, starting Jan. 1.

“We could be affected as early as January of the coming year. So it would happen very, very quickly. And nobody really knows what’s going to happen,” said Mike Delfs, the CEO of Jamestown Regional Medical Center.

Many rural residents are on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Since premiums are predicted to spike significantly, some people will drop insurance, and they will be forced to go to the ER when they get sick. Hospitals cannot refuse emergency patients, and will have to shoulder the cost on thin margins.

“We would be looking at anticipated bad debt, but to what degree we don’t even know, and it is kind of scary to think about,” said Delfs.

Hospital leadership and staff say that the uncertainty is wearing on them, on top of the common stressors rural providers have to deal with.

As of now, they say their best bet is to hope that Congress can put aside partisan differences and come up with a solution.

“We have real people who are either going to lose their insurance or its going to get so expensive they literally can’t afford it. And the downstream effect of that is now you are endangering hospitals in rural locations just by their mere viability,” said Delfs.

According to hospital leadership, without congressional action in 2026, the end of the year could leave the hospital with nearly one million dollars in unpaid medical bills.

North Dakota’s Republican congressional delegation says the Rural Health Transformation Fund will greatly benefit rural hospitals and blames democrats for voting against their healthcare plan.

Source link

North Dakota

Pepperdine hosts North Dakota State following Koenen’s 22-point game

Published

22 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Pepperdine hosts North Dakota State following Koenen’s 22-point game

North Dakota State Bison (8-2) at Pepperdine Waves (7-2)

Malibu, California; Tuesday, 5 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: North Dakota State visits Pepperdine after Avery Koenen scored 22 points in North Dakota State’s 83-55 victory against the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

The Waves are 4-0 on their home court. Pepperdine is 1-0 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 18.2 turnovers per game.

The Bison are 3-0 on the road. North Dakota State scores 77.4 points and has outscored opponents by 15.3 points per game.

Pepperdine averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game, 2.8 more made shots than the 5.3 per game North Dakota State gives up. North Dakota State averages 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.1 fewer made shots on average than the 7.3 per game Pepperdine allows.

TOP PERFORMERS: Seleh Harmon averages 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Waves, scoring 10.4 points while shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc. Elli Guiney is shooting 47.3% and averaging 14.4 points.

Molly Lenz averages 1.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Bison, scoring 7.8 points while shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc. Koenen is averaging 18.2 points, 10 rebounds and 1.6 steals.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Source link

North Dakota

North Dakota lawmakers from West Fargo announce bid for reelection

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota lawmakers from West Fargo announce bid for reelection

WEST FARGO — Three incumbents from West Fargo will run for reelection to their state legislative seats.

North Dakota Sen. Judy Lee and Reps. Jim Jonas and Austen Schauer, all Republicans, announced Sunday, Dec. 14, that they would campaign to represent District 13 in the state Legislature. The district covers much of north West Fargo.

Austin Schauer.

Special to The Forum

Lee was first elected to the North Dakota Senate in 1994. Jonas and Schauer have served in the state House since 2023 and 2019, respectively.

The three ran unopposed in the 2022 election. The next election for their seats is in 2026.

Jim Jonas, candidate for West Fargo School Board. Michael Vosburg / Forum Photo Editor — Jim Jonas.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

Source link