MOORHEAD, MN. – 'Twas the night before December 20 and all through the Nemzek Fieldhouse, a creature was stirring, but it was not a mouse. Rather, a Dragon.

It is the Minnesota State – Moorhead Dragons.

Just before the Christmas joy and celebration of the holidays, the No. 12 nationally ranked Minot State men's basketball team is back to work for another weekend pair of NSIC contests. Straight ahead of them is their biggest test of the 2024-25 campaign.

For the first time this season, the Beavers venture into their first ranked matchup. And there is no better way for it to be than against conference foe MSU – Moorhead, who is No. 6 in the nation. The weekend will wrap up for the Beavers with another road battle against the Northern State Wolves.

Minot State (13-0, 4-0 NSIC) gets things started versus the Dragons (9-1, 4-0 NSIC) in Moorhead. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday. And then on Saturday, the Beavers go dancing with the Wolves (1-9, 0-4 NSIC) at 6:00 p.m. in Aberdeen.

Over the years, the Dragons have had the Beavers number. In 23 total contests, MSU-Moorhead claimed 20 of them since both teams met for the first time in 2011. In their last time out, the Dragons edged out the Beavers by a score of 81-79 back on February 8.

Northern State and Minot State go back a long time. Since the mid-50s to be exact, both teams have had many battles during that time span that has been dominated by Northern. Just like Moorhead, the Wolves also seem to give Minot State some struggles despite the Beavers winning the previous matchup 77-72 in overtime just over a year ago on December 14. This weekend will be their 77^th meeting all-time.

Minnesota State – Moorhead got to No. 6 for a reason. They possess top-end talent led by Jacob Beeninga, Logan Kinsey, and Jacob Jennissen.

Beeninga is dangerous with the ball, as he has put home 18.8 PPG in all 10 starts. Kinsey is behind him with 15.7, while Jennissen reels in a team-leading 7.6 RPG to go with 10.9 PPG.

While the Beavers and Dragons battle to find out which of the two ranked teams come out on top, there are also family bragging rights on the line. Beavers' own Jaden Wysocki will be facing off against his brother Shaun, a Freshman for the Dragons who has played in all 10 games and started 4.

For Northern State, they hope to find better days ahead as this season has been a struggle for the Wolves despite longtime success against Minot State. James Glenn and Marcus Burks have been bright spots for Northern. Glenn leads the way with 12.4 PPG, while Burks is second with 10.6 PPG on the team.

Through 13 games, Caleb Van De Griend continues to shine for the Beavers as part of a brilliant starting five that possess different skillsets that complement each other very well. The big man averages a double-double made up of 17.8 PPG and 11.2 RPG. Jalen Cook is not far off from Van De Griend with 16.3 PPG, followed by 12.0+ PPG outputs from Jaxon Gunville (12.8) and Ayouba Berthe (12.1). Sam West rounds out the unit with 9.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 4.3 APG as a versatile piece that can do a lot of different things on the court for the Beavers.
 
Recent Games
After a midweek clash with the Mary Marauders that resulted in a Minot State win, the Beavers welcomed the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets to finish out the non-conference portion of the season. Minot State flexed their muscles yet again in a 92-66 finish over the Jackets who were shorthanded because of injury. Van De Griend had himself another great stat line with a cool 21 points and 15 rebounds. Cook also hit 20 points in the win, while Jaxon Gunville reached 1,000 points in his collegiate career with a 19-point finish. Ayouba Berthe chipped in with 11, and Sam West nearly had a double-double himself the unconventional way of 9 rebounds and 9 assists as he was dishing it out all game.