MOORHEAD, Minn. - The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (5-1, 1-0 NSIC) continues the 2016-17 regular season this week with a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games on Friday (Dec. 2) and Saturday (Dec. 3).
How to Follow...
Game 6: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
Game 7: (Watch) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
(Listen) https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
Dragons Return Home...
The Dragons are at home in Nemzek Fieldhouse for the first time this season as they take on two NSIC foes. MSUM plays the University of Mary (2-4, 1-0 NSIC) on Friday (Dec. 2) at 8:00 p.m., turning around Saturday (Dec. 3) for a matchup with Minot State (4-3, 0-1 NSIC).
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK...
The Dragons are coming off a 2-0 week that saw victories against Concordia College (107-74) and the first NSIC win for MSUM at Northern State (93-92).
Against Concordia it was senior forward
Ayob Ayob who led the way for the Dragons scoring 23 points and hauling in four rebounds. Senior guard
Aaron Lien added 19 points, while junior guard
Tanner Kretchman had 15 points with six assists.
In the NSIC opener at Northern State the Dragons let a lead slip away late in the game, but it was Kretchman's heroics that secured the win for MSUM. Kretchman hit a game-winning three point shot as time expired to lift the Dragons to 1-0 in conference play. Lien scored a team-high 28 points in the contest, a season-high, with five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Kretchman totaled 19 points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Scouting the Opposition...
U-Mary
Mary is coming off a NSIC win over Minot State, 81-72, which saw senior guard Damonta Henry score a team-high 19 points for a Marauder squad that is 2-4 overall and 1-0 in NSIC play.
Henry leads U-Mary averaging 16.2 points per game, with 2.2 rebounds per game and 1.5 assists per game. Senior forward Bryan Jefferson hauls in a team-high 5.8 rebounds per game, while adding 15.0 points per game (2nd on team).
The Marauders are scoring 68.3 points per game, and shooting 43.7 percent from the field (150-of-343).
As a team they are giving up 71.8 points per game, and are second in the NSIC averaging 7.0 steals per game.
Minot State
After winning four games in a row the Beavers dropped their last outing to U-Mary, 81-72, in their first NSIC game of the season. Minot State has a 4-3 overall record with a 0-1 mark in NSIC play.
Junior forward Tyler Rudolph is averaging a team-high 20.3 points per game, and is just shy of averaging a double double with 9.9 rebounds per game. Junior guard Luis Ricci Maia and junior forward Stevan Jovanovic are averaging 14.1 and 12.3 point per game respectively. Rudolph leads the team in blocks (four).
The Beavers are scoring 80.1 points per game, and shooting 50.8 percent from the field.
As a defense they are giving up 73.4 points per game to their opponents, and outrebounding its foes 35.6-29.7.
Lien Launching up Career Ladder
Senior guard
Aaron Lien has had an impressive season so far, leading the Dragons in scoring with 20.7 points per game. After leading MSUM with 28 points in Saturday's win over Northern State Lien has moved to 18th on the all-time scoring list at 1,260 points. He is 18 points behind Lowell Bolger in 17th place; Ralph Western is the all-time leading scorer for MSUM with 2,015 points.
Recent Success at Northern State
After defeating Northern State 93-92 on Saturday the Dragons have now won three games in a row at Northern State. The only other team to currently hold this long of a winning streak at the Barnett Center is the University of Minnesota Duluth.
NCAA Division II Central Region Poll
MSUM has found its way into the top-10 of the NCAA Division II Central Region Men's Basketball Poll, sponsored by D2SIDA.
Rank School W-L Pts. Prev.
1. Northwest Missouri St. (6) 6-0 60 1
2. Augustana 5-1 52 T2
3. Washburn 6-0 49 T2
4. Minnesota State 4-1 41 T4
5. SMSU 5-0 37 6
6. MSU Moorhead 5-1 29 7
7. Harding 4-1 20 8
8. Arkansas Tech 3-0 15 10
9. Central Missouri 4-1 11 RV
10. Missouri Southern 4-2 10 T4
NSIC Player of the Week
For two straight weeks a Dragon has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Division Player of the Week. Senior forward
Ayob Ayob garnered the accolade, the first of his career, in the second week of play. Senior guard
Aaron Lien earned the honor after his efforts in wins at Concordia and Northern State last week.
Anderson Finding New Role
Redshirt freshman forward
Matt Anderson has found himself playing a pivotal role off the bench for the Dragons. Anderson is averaging 9.7 points per game to go along with 4.7 rebounds per game. He registered a career-high in the Dragons only loss of the season to Southern Nazarene scoring 22 points and hauling in four rebounds.
Scoring Well
MSUM ranks first in the NSIC and 13th in the NCAA scoring 94.2 points per game. The Dragons rank first in the NSIC and seventh nationally in field goal percentage (.529), first in the NSIC and third nationally three-point field goal percentage (.488), first in the NSIC and second nationally in three-point field goals made per game (13.2), and first in the NSIC and 20th nationally in free throw percentage (.786).
Winning Ways
During his tenure at MSUM, Walthall has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in MSUM men's basketball history (.734). Since taking over the program in 2010, Walthall has led the Dragons to a winning season each year;
2015-16: 30-6, 19-3 NSIC
2014-15: 35-4, 20-2 NSIC
2013-14: 21-8, 15-7 NSIC
2012-13: 19-11, 12-10 NSIC
2011-12: 21-10, 14-8 NSIC
2010-11: 15-12, 12-10 NSIC
Walthall Readies for 7th Season
Head Coach
Chad Walthall is entering his seventh season at the helm for MSUM. Walthall has amassed an impressive 141-51 record (.734) during his time as the head coach of the Dragons. Walthall is joined on the coaching staff by
Justin Wieck (third season) and
Tim Bergstraser (second season).
Up Next
MSUM hits the road for a pair of NSIC matches against Minnesota Crookston (Dec. 9) and Bemidji State (Dec. 10).
