MOORHEAD, Minn. - The MInnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (0-0) host the Dickinson State Blue Hawks (3-3) in non-conference action in the Dragon's season opener.
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All Dragon basketball games are broadcast live by the Voice of the Dragons, Steve D'Eustachio on 106.9 the Eagle. The pre-game show begins 20 minutes prior to tip-off and can also be heard live on www.theeagle.tv
All MSU Moorhead home contests and conference basketball games can be viewed for FREE on the internet, live on New Media Television Networks, Inc. through the Northern Sun Intergollegiate Conference LIveStreaming. Visit http://msum.nmtvsports.com/ to view the Dragons channel on New Media Television.
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NEW ERA BEGINS SUNDAY
The Dragons will open the 2010-11 season under first year Head Coach
Chad Walthall, who took the helm of the program in June of 2010. Walthall spent the last three seasons at the University of Iowa and also has spent many years at the Division II and III levels during his coaching career.
The team was preseason ranked to finish 11th out of 14 teams by the league's coaches after the Dragons finished 7-13 in conference play and 12th overall last season. The program finished 10-18 the past two seasons. There is optimism for the new coach, as the program returns four players that played significant minutes last season and eight letterwinners to a team primarily made up of sophomores and juniors, with no seniors on the roster. They also added three junior transfers and two first year players.
The Dragons return the top scorer from last year's squad in
Jake Driscoll (Glyndon, Minn.), who was picked among as one of the NSIC players to watch. The junior averaged 15.8 points, 3.7 assists and 28.5 minutes per game last season. The team's Rookie of the Year, Co-MVP and Defensive Player of the Year,
Alex Novak returns after one of the most successful rookie seasons in the past ten seasons for the Dragons as he broke the single season block record as a freshman at MSUM, while averaging 7.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
THE DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS
The Blue Hawks have already tallied a 3-3 record this season, having opened up on Oct. 23 with a win over the University of Regina at home. Most recently, they tallied a win on the road against Great Falls (Mont.), 80-75. In the game, Blue Hawks top player Nate Lebsock scored 41 points, going 24-for-26 from the free-throw line, playing all 40 minutes.
Lebsock leads the team this season as he is averaging 24.5 points per game, shooting .436. He also has a team high of 13 steals. The other standout on the team is Matthew Lee who leads the team in rebounds (10.0), assists (3.0) and blocks per game (0.83).
THE SERIES
The Dragons lead the all-time series 5-3. The Blue Hawks upset the Dragons last season 77-71 in Dickinson, N.D.
LAST MEETING RECAP
After playing one of their best games of the year on Friday night, where they beat Jamestown 79-59, the Dragons were upset by the Dickinson State Blue Hawks at the Wendy's Classic, 77-71.
Andrew VanHavermaet had three three-pointers in the second half, to move his game total to 11, but it wasn't enough to propel the Dragons to a win. MSUM shot 51 percent in the contest.
Xavier Reed led Dragons with 14 points in the game.
Dennis Williamson went 5-for-7 from the floor and ended the game with 12 points.
Alex Novak also hit in double figures, with 10.
Eric Olson led the team in rebounding, as he pulled down six boards in seven minutes.
Jake Driscoll set a new career-high in assists, with 10. He ended the night one point shy of hitting a double-double (nine points).
TICKETS
Tickets for the event are $7, ages 12 and under are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased the day of the event.
