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THIS WEEK: Minot State University finishes off its home regular season with a pair of games at the Minot State Dome Friday and Saturday. The Beavers play host to Bemidji State Friday at 8 p.m. and finish with senior night Saturday against Minnesota Crookston (8 p.m.).
RECORDS: MISU is 8-14 overall and 7-11 in the NSIC. BSU is right ahead of Minot State at 10-8 in the NSIC and is 12-10 overall. UMC comes into the weekend at 3-19 overall and is winless at 0-18 in the Northern Sun.
COACHES CORNER: Minot State's
Matt Murken is in his first season at the helm of the Beavers. He is 8-14 with Minot State and is 54-30 overall. Mike Boschee is also in his first season at Bemidji State and is 12-10 with BSU. Boschee is 127-125 overall in his 10-year career. UM Crookston's head coach Jeff Oseth is 54-236 in 11 seasons – all with the Golden Eagles.
FOLLOW THE BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible at msubeavers.com/stayconnected. Friday night's double header will be televised by the Minot State broadcasting department on KMSU Channel 19.
RANKINGS: None of the three teams are ranked in the latest NABC Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
RECENT HISTORY: MISU lost twice on the road to run its modest losing streak to three games, falling 82-59 at Sioux Falls Friday and 78-68 at Southwest Minnesota State Saturday. Bemidji State split two road games last week, topping No. 5 Minnesota State 82-74 and falling 85-84 at Concordia-St. Paul Saturday. Minnesota Crookston dropped both games over the weekend, falling 88-68 at CU and 93-55 against MSU to run its losing streak to 19 games
OVERALL SERIES: Minot State is 0-1 all time as a member of NCAA Division II against BSU, falling at Bemidji in December. The Beavers own a 1-0 lead in DII games against UMC.
NOTING THE BSU BEAVERS: Bemidji State scored 51 second half points to upend nationally ranked Minnesota State last week, its first win over a nationally ranked team this season (1-2)… BSU has three players who start and average better than 10 points per game, led by Dermaine Crockrell's 14.1 points per game. He is followed by Mason Walter's 13.5 ppg., and Lance Rongstad's 11.9 a contest… Rongstad was as standout quarterback for the Beavers football team… The defending NSIC champions have been good and bad this season, marked by the 12-10 overall record. BSU has a plus-(4.0) scoring average and a plus-(1.2) rebounding average, just over even like its record… The Beavers have taken 494 3-pointers on the season, hitting 174 for a 35.2 percent mark. They have taken nearly 100 more 3s than Minot State and 166 more triples than UM Crookston.
NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota Crookston has struggled to score this season, averaging 57.2 points per game… UMC has just 36 blocks as a team on the season, one more than Minot State's
Kelvin Fraser has himself this year despite missing the past four games due to injury… Almir Krdzalic has 75 assists compared to 63 turnovers on the season… UMC has not taken care of the ball this season, coming into the weekend with 341 turnovers… James Sparkman leads the team with a 5.0 rebounding average despite just being 6-foot-3… Brandon Burns is the lone Golden Eagle to average better than 10 points per game, coming into the weekend with a 10.7 average.
FINALLY SEEING DOUBLE: Minot State recorded its first double-double of the season as
Josh Johnson (Sr., F, Lufkin, Texas) finished with 12 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Johnson has been very consistent since the calendar change, hitting for double figures six times in his past nine games, including four straight games. He is second on the team with a 9.8 scoring average and is pulling down 5.2 rebounds per contest.
MAKING THE MOST OF HIS MINUTES: Beavers sophomore
Matt Yale (G, Berthold, N.D.) doesn't get a ton of minutes per night, but has done well with the ones he gets. Yale has scored 21 points on the year in just 76 total minutes. He is 8 of 11 from the field, hit his only 3-pointers and is 4 for 5 from the free-throw line. His role expanded a bit when
Kelvin Fraser (Sr., F, Brooklyn, N.Y.) was sidelined with an injury five games ago. During that span, Yale has scored 14 of 21 points.
SPREADING THE WEALTH: Minot State has utilized multiple lineups this season and it shows in the minutes for each player. The Beavers have seven different players averaging more than 20 minutes of playing time a game. Two others,
Isiah Gandy (Jr., G, West Palm Beach, Fla.) and
Anthony Enriquez (Sr., G, Tacoma, Wash.) are logging 18 and 17.8 per game respectively and both have started games this year. Nine different players have started at least one game as well. Leading the way both in minutes played and in starts is freshman
Dominique McDonald (G, Raleigh, N.C.) who has 20 starts and is averaging 27.3 minutes per game.
HELPING OTHERS: Freshman guard
Dominique McDonald leads the Beavers with 74 assists, averaging 3.4 per game. That mark places him 10th overall in the Northern Sun. He has pushed his average up with 18 assists over his past four games, including a season-high seven against Concordia St. Paul.
WILLIAMS MAKES THEM COUNT: Minot State's
E.J. Williams (Jr., G, Raleigh, N.C.) continues to rank highly in the NSIC in free throw shooting percentage, making 86.9 of his foul shots. Williams has hit 53 of 61 so far this season. But Williams hasn't been the line much as of late, going just 2 of 4 from the charity stripe in his past seven games. In the previous eight games, Williams was on fire, knocking down all but three of his 39 attempts. He continues to lead the Beavers in scoring as he has pushed his per-game average to 10.9 points, hitting for double figures in four of his last five games.
THE STREAK ENDS HERE: Minot State is looking to avoid its first four-game losing streak since very early in the season. Minot State has dropped three straight NSIC games, including two on the road last weekend. But the Beavers return to the Minot State Dome where they have won three of their past six games. The Beavers only four-game losing streak spanned the first two weekends of the NSIC season.
– GO BEAVERS –