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WHAT'S AHEAD

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team won two games last week to increase its perfect start to 7-0. It is the third time in Head Coach Chad Walthall's five-year tenure that the Dragons have began 7-0. Walthall needs just one more win to secure win No. 200 in his career. MSUM will plays its first three home games of the season this week when Presentation College, Minot State University, and University of Mary all travel to Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.

First, Presentation College will face the Dragons on Tuesday night in a nonconference match up. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. from Nemzek Fieldhouse.  Tuesday will be the second all-time meeting between the Dragons and the Saints, the last one coming on Dec. 16, 2007. MSUM defeated Presentation that night 93-64 behind 19 points from Ryan Rozell. Presentation is 4-1 on the season and split two tournament games in Iowa last weekend. The Saints defeated Crossroads College 90-61 on Nov. 28 and lost to Grinnell College on Nov. 30. The Saints have two players averaging over 17 points per game this season; senior guard Jeremy Comer with 17.4 and junior guard Cameron Isreal with 17.2.

Next, the Dragons welcome two Northern Sun Intercollegiate teams to Moorhead this weekend, beginning with Minot State at 8 p.m. on Friday night. In 27 all-time meetings between the Dragons and Beavers, MSUM holds an 18-9 advantage. The Dragons won both match ups against Minot State last season, winning 78-67 in Minot on Dec. 7, 2013 and 85-55 in Moorhead on Feb. 21, 2014. Five Dragons scored in double digits in the Moorhead game, with Malik Wood leading the way with 15. Minot State is 5-1 this season and won its first NSIC game against Mary 66-61 on Nov. 29. Senior guard Everett Robinson leads the team in scoring and rebounds with 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Junior guard Dominique McDonald is averaging 10.8 points per game and is leading the team with 4.5 assists per game.

Finally, the Mary Marauders will face the Dragons at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening. MSUM holds a slight 8-7 advantage over Mary in the all-time series. The Dragons won both games against Mary in 2013-14, defeating the Marauders 83-73 on Dec. 8, 2013 in Bismarck and 95-94 in overtime on Feb. 22, 2014 in Moorhead. Then-sophomore guard Tyler Vaughan scored a career high 26 points in the overtime win in Moorhead. Mary is 2-3 so far this season and dropped its first NSIC match up against Minot State 66-61 on Nov. 29. Sophomore forward Bryan Jefferson leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 19.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Junior guard Marquealis Edwards leads the Marauder offense, averaging 4.5 assists per game to lead the team while also contributing 11.0 points per game.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK

MSUM added two wins to its record last week, coming away with two road wins over Concordia College and Northern State. 

The Dragons captured their 100th all-time victory over Concordia College in an 87-59 win on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The Dragons shot 52.5 percent (32-61) from the field and 42.3 percent (11-26) from behind the three-point line to outscore the Cobbers by 27. Junior forward Isaac Sevlie paced MSUM with 15 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Ngijol Songolo drained four three-pointers and scored 12 points off the bench.

MSUM used a 37-28 rebounding advantage and shot .500 percent (26-62) from the field to beat Northern State 75-55 on Saturday, Nov. 29. Sevlie led the team in scoring with 17 points, followed by 14 points from junior guard Tyler Vaughan.

Walthall Milestones

MSUM Head Coach Chad Walthall needs just one more victory to earn his 200th career victory as a head coach. In five seasons, Walthall has a 83-41 record at MSUM and led the Dragons to their first conference title since 1981-82 last season with a 21-8 record. Walthall's 66.9 winning percentage is the second highest of any MSUM head coach, trailing only Marv Skaar (1967-72) who won 71.3 percent of his games (87-35). Walthall was 116-69 in seven seasons (2000-07) as the head coach of Division III Loras College.

MSUM's 7-0 start is the third time in Walthall's tenure that the Dragons have started 7-0. Last season, MSUM started 9-0 on their way to a 21-8 record and a NSIC North Division title. In 2011-12, MSUM began 12-0 and advanced to the NCAA regional tournament.