1970 Men's Basketball Team

Directed by first-year Head Coach Richard “Dutch” Erickson, University of Sioux Fall’s 1969-70 finished 20-8 and won the Tri-State Conference, which was the program’s third league title in a span of five seasons.

The Cougars became the first team in program history to record 20 wins in a season and the first to win a postseason game. The squad averaged 84.3 points and 47.4 rebounds per game with USF Athletics Hall of Fame guard Herb Buckner leading the way at 23.4 ppg (655 points) and 8.4 rebounds (234). Guards Bentley Odom (13.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and Dwayne Boyce (11.0 points and 2.5 rebounds), as well as forwards Don Papineau (9.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg), Wade Friese (7.4 ppg and 11.9 rpg) and Joe Ziemba (6.4 ppg, 3.9 ppg) also played key roles.

After a start of 7-5, the USF team responded with 11 victories in the last 12 games of the regular season to finish 18-6 and grab the Tri-State Conference title with an 11-1 league mark. USF participated in the District 12 playoffs as part of the NAIA post-season tournament. Sioux Falls defeated Valley City State University (17-5), which won the North Dakota College Athletic Conference and featured two-time All-American Cavin Anderson (later drafted by the Chicago Bulls), 87-81, as Papineau scored 19 points while Buckner added 17; Odom, 16; Boyce and Ziemba, 15. The victory was USF’s first-ever postseason win and set the stage for a best-of-three series with Northern State with the winner advancing to Kansas City. NSU was the higher seed and won the first game 92-87 by breaking an 87-87.

Despite being hindered by travel, USF defeated NSU, 67-56, in game two which was held at the Sioux Falls Arena. Ziemba led all scorers with 18 points while Boyce had 16, Odom, 15 and Friese had 10. Before 3,500 in Aberdeen, NSU took a 108-92 decision to advance to Kansas City. Boyce tied a team-season high with a career-best 38 points. Following the season, six players were named to the all Tri-State Conference team with Buckner an unanimous first-team choice. Friese and Odom were selected to the second team while Papineau, Boyce, and Ziemba earned honorable mention laurels. Buckner was also named to the All-District 12 second team while Friese was named honorable mention All-District 12.

Team members and hometowns included: Tom Roberts, Mt. Clemens, Mich.; Randy Stolpe, Rapid City, S.D.; Dwayne Boyce, Chicago, Ill.; Bentley Odom, Long Beach, N.J.; Harvey Hoffman, Harrisburg, S.D.; Herb Buckner, Detroit, Mich.; Bob Kregg, Sea Girt, N.J.; Rick Brommer, Sioux Center, Iowa; Pat Garry, Harrisburg, S.D.; Wade Friese, Lennox, S.D.; Craig Hoogestraat, Lennox, S.D.; Joe Grau, Melvin, Iowa; and Joe Ziemba, Evergreen Park, Ill. Joining Erickson on the coaching staff was Assistant Coach Larry Patten, Manager Robert Bertsch; Statistician Tony Merry and Athletic Trainer Max Merry.