MINOT, ND. – 29 games down, two more to go in the final stages of the regular season. It has been a chaotic stretch in the always tough Northern Sun conference, as five teams sit tied for first place and the top eight in the standings are within two games of each other in the last week before playoffs.

A lot could and will change as the Minot State men's basketball team has some last-minute business to take care of. A four-game losing streak is not what anyone wants to go through in the waning moments of a long 2024-25 campaign. But that is where they find themselves as the Beavers look to finish things strong and turn the tide going into the NSIC Tournament.

Minot State will see action in a return to the home hardwood versus the Augustana University Vikings and Wayne State College Wildcats, two teams who are on the outside looking in vying for a playoff or play-in spot.

The Beavers (21-8, 12-8 NSIC) are back at the MSU Dome to welcome Augustana (11-16, 8-13 NSIC) to the Magic City. Tip-off is scheduled for Thursday, February 20 at 5:30 p.m. Following that, the Dome will be set for a Senior Day matinee on Saturday when Minot State plays host to the Wildcats (16-11, 10-11 NSIC) in a 1:30 p.m. start time.

Before opening tip against Wayne, there will be Senior recognitions for Jaxon Gunville, Jalen Cook, and Daryl Rice Jr. for all their time and effort given to the program.

Minot State will be in a rematch against two teams determined to keep their seasons alive in Augustana and Wayne State. The experience in Wayne, Nebraska earlier in the season was not one the Beavers had hoped for. Last time they both met, it was a successful trial for the Wildcats in a 78-69 win over Minot on January 17.

Going up against Augustana proved better for the Beavers. In their last meeting on January 18, they took down the Vikings in a narrow 82-77 win that ended a three-game losing streak at the time.

In the past weekend while the Beavers were in Mankato and Winona, MN, both Augustana and Wayne earned splits. The Vikings are coming off a 10-point defeat at the hands of St. Cloud State, 72-62. For the Wildcats, they bounced back with a 78-73 win over Bemidji State in their previous contest. At Minot State is the last game remaining on the schedule for both teams before it is off to Tournament play.

Players to watch for Augustana feature Tanner Te Slaa and Akoi Akoi. For Te Slaa, he averages 14.0 PPG heading into Thursday. Against the Beavers, he scored 24 in his first time seeing the Beavers this season. His right-hand man Akoi is not far behind him at 13.7 PPG.

For the Wildcats, three guys average in the 12.0 PPG range. It will be tough to contain all three of Matt Noll (12.4), JJ Ferin (12.2), and Cody McCullough (12.0) at once. In their first duel against the Beavers, Ferin put up 17 points while Noll finished with 14 in their matchup on home court.

Minot State heads into the regular season series finale with all five starters averaging in double figures for scoring. The unit is led by Caleb Van De Griend, who was just named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 watch list and NSIC Shining Five, all while presenting a strong case to be the NSIC player of the year. He continues to be a machine for the Beavers, who happens to be getting better and better as the season winds down. The big man has upped his PPG average to 20.4, which is second in the NSIC. And he sits first in RPG in the conference with 13.1 for a double-double statline. Jalen Cook and Ayoube Berthe also pack a Brooklyn Park punch in the scoring department, with 13.8 PPG from Cook and 13.2 from Berthe.
 
Recent Games
It was a weekend to forget for Minot State. Despite beating them the first try, the Beavers fell to the defending champs 96-91 in a high-scoring battle on Friday night. Things did not get better going into Saturday afternoon, as Minot was found in an early hole that they could not dig out of against Winona State. The Warriors downed the Beavers with a dominant performance on home court by a final of 83-58. Van De Griend eclipsed 30 points in the loss, all while hauling in 10 rebounds for the double-double. Sam West was the second leading scorer as he added 12 points. Ayoube Berthe totaled 7 points, while the bench produced 9 points between Trey Brandt and Daryl Rice Jr.