Moorhead took the long road to its home opener, playing its first three games on the road against Twin Cities teams.
The third, an 18-point loss at Edina, culminated with one "tongue lashing" and 200 miles of silence, said coach Chuck Gulsvig, something of a reputed screamer.
Wisely, the Spuds waited until Tuesday to issue a response, leading wire-to-wire in a 76-64 victory against Buffalo in the first round of the Moorhead holiday boys basketball tournament.
"We had to have the little session in Edina to decide there was a little bit more to this game than showing up and playing," Gulsvig said, "and I think they responded to that."
At 7:15 tonight, Moorhead (2-2) will look to beat D-G-F (6-1) and sweep its tournament for the first time since 2001. But against the Bison (4-3), Spuds forward Erik Lien walked away with the broom awarded to the team's player of the game.
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The 6-foot-5 junior with the never ending wingspan scored a career-high 33 points, including an 11-for-11 effort from the free-throw line, with 15 rebounds.
"I've seen him play a couple times now and he's a good athlete and he's physical and a lot of times we don't have somebody to counter that," said Buffalo coach Nick Guida, a 1991 Moorhead High graduate and self-proclaimed Gulsvig disciple. "When you're playing with your feet in sand like we were in the first half, he dominated inside. ... I'm not very happy he's only a junior."
Not afraid to mimic the voracity of his mentor, Guida likewise was not happy with his club's play for most of the night, calling the first half effort "shocking."
Yet in lightning-quick fashion, the Bison cut a 21-point deficit to eight with three minutes to play before Lien took charge of a three-senior team whether by bringing the ball up court - Moorhead lacks a dribble-first point guard for the first time this millennium - or calling for the ball in the post.
"That was a team win," he said.
It was also have been an individual statement.
"We told him at the beginning of the game we were trying to come to him and get in the post and score," Gulsvig said of Lien. "I thought he responded really well. He had not played like that our first three games."
BUFFALO: Jeske 4 1-1 10, Olmscheid 5 2-2 17, J. Ortmann 5 3-5 16, Olson 2 6-6 10, N. Ortmann 2 2-2 7, Broadnax 1 1-4 4. Totals 19 15-20 64.
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MOORHEAD: Driscoll 4 5-6 14, Burington 1 2-2 5, Borgen 4 0-0 8, Bulik 1 1-2 3, Lien 11 11-11 33, Haugen 1 2-2 4, VanDyke 3 3-3 9. Totals 25 24-26 76.
Half: M 31, B 18. 3-point goals: Olmscheid 5, J. Ortmann 3, N. Ortmann, Broadnax, Jeske, Driscoll, Burington. Total fouls: B 24, M, 18. Fouled out: Olmscheid, Borgen. Rebounds: B 20 (Olson, Broadnax 4), M 32 (Lien 15). Turnovers: B 17, M 23.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
