Northern Live StatsNorthern Video Crossroads Live StatsCrossroads Video MOORHEAD, Minn. – The No. 4-ranked Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team will travel to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponent Northern State University Saturday before returning home to face non-conference Crossroads College Sunday to wrap up play in the month of December.
The Dragons and Wolves faced off earlier this year where the Dragons were victorious over NSU, 71-65. Since that time, the Wolves have gone 5-2 and are now 6-5 overall and 2-3 in the NSIC. Redshirt junior guard Darin Peterka leads the Wolves offense averaging 15.0 points per game while grabbing 5.8 boards per game. Senior guard Skye Warwick leads the team in assists with 2.5 per game while putting up 14.4 points per game. The Wolves are coached by Paul Sather who is in his sixth year at the helm of the Northern State program.
The Knights of Crossroads College come to Nemzek Fieldhouse for a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Dragons. The 4-8 Knights are led by head coach Richard Westerlund who is in this third season at CC. Freshman guard Steven Horan is the scoring leader of the Knights with 11.9 points per game while sophomore forward Isaac Bowles has 11.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK...
MSUM improved its record to 12-1 (5-0 NSIC) with wins over conference opponents St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth last week.
The Dragons defeated the Huskies 77-64 Friday night at Nemzek Fieldhouse and were led by senior guard
Ngijol Songolo's 16 points and six rebounds which were accompanied by 16 points, four rebounds and two blocks from senior center
Isaac Sevlie. Sophomore guard
Tanner Kretchman added 15 points, six assists and four rebounds on the night.
On the game, the Dragons shot 45.5 percent while grabbing 43 boards and dishing out 14 assists. The Huskies shot 40 percent from the field and had 39 rebounds.
Saturday the Dragons handed the Bulldogs their third loss of the season, 90-80. With the victory, the Dragons have won 12 straight games. MSUM was led by Sevlie's 23 points and five boards while junior forward
Ayob Ayob collected 17 points and five boards and player of the game honors. Senior guard
Tyler Vaughan had 12 points and two steals and junior guard
Aaron Lien had 11 points.
MSUM was 29-of-58 from the field (50 percent) and grabbed 38 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the field and collected 33 boards. A big key in the first half was turnovers. The Dragons had only two while UMD had nine, which led to a 15-0 edge in points off of turnovers for MSUM.
NOTABLES...
• The Dragons currently hold a 24 game winning streak at home. Their last home loss was handed to them by Minnesota Duluth by a score of 67-70, on Feb. 8, 2014.
• MSUM remains nationally ranked in the National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division II chart. For the second week in a row, the Dragons are fourth in the country. The men have been ranked in the poll since December of 2014, its highest ranking is 4.
• The Dragons are ranked nationally in several categories in Division II men's basketball both as a team and individually. As a team, the Dragons are 10th in defensive rebounds per game {and first in the NSIC - 31.23}, fifth in free throw attempts and free throws made {3.07 & 218}, third in total assists {195}, and first in the nation in total rebounds {195}. Individually, the men have several athletes represented in the top 25 – Kretchman is 12th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio with 3.63 while Vaughan is 20th at 3.31. Sevlie is fourth in the country in free throw attempts {100} and seventh in free throws made {74}, Kretchman is 14th in total assists {58}, and Vaughan is 22nd in the same category {53}, Sevlie is 10th in total blocks {24} and 13th in total field goal attempts {163}. Sevlie is first in the nation in total field goals made {100} and second in total points {274}, he is also 10th in total rebounds {102}.
