Travis Kriens

The Jackrabbit men’s basketball team will say goodbye to three players on March 1 against Centenary at 7:30 p.m.

Seniors Ben Beran, Mohamed Berte and Michael Loney have each gone down different paths to get to the same point in their careers.

Beran, from Victor, Iowa, was the 2004 North Central Conference Freshman of the Year and is the only member of this year’s team that has played in the NCC, through the Independent stage and now in the Summit League. After sitting out last season to deal with the death of his father, Beran is only 18 points away from being the 11th all-time leading scorer in SDSU history with two games remaining. For his career, Beran has averaged 10.7 ppg and 4.8 rpg.

Berte, from the Ivory Coast, came to Brookings in 2005 after playing two seasons at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. He sat out last season after being falsely accused of sexual assault. Berte started his first game of the season on Feb. 9 against Western Illinois and was having one of his best games of the season with seven points and eight rebounds. Late in the second half, Berte injured his arm trying to brace himself as he fell to the court. The injury ended Berte’s Jackrabbit career.

Loney, a 6′ 6″ forward from Humboldt, Iowa, has been a constant on the Jackrabbit men’s basketball team as he is the only player to go through the entire transition to Division I. Loney earned a degree in math education last May and is currently studying to get his master’s degree in secondary education administration. During a three game stretch late in the season at Oakland, against IUPUI and Western Illinois, Loney had one of the best three game spans of his career scoring in double figures in three straight games.

No doubt, these three players will be thanked for how hard they have worked and all they have done throughout the years for Jackrabbit basketball on the floor against Centenary.