Game Notes PDF
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (4-8, 2-4 NSIC) will hit the road to take on Minnesota State University, Mankato and Concordia University, St. Paul.

HOW TO FOLLOW...
Minnesota State Mankato: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
Concordia-St. Paul: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm

THIS WEEKEND...
The Dragons will face Minnesota State Mankato, Saturday at 6 p.m., before wrapping up 2017 play at Concordia-St. Paul, Sunday at 4 p.m.

LOOKING BACK...
MSUM fell to Northern State last week, 89-70. Addison Park led the Dragons for the second consecutive game with 16 points, six rebounds, and one block. Senior guard Tanner Kretchman had 14 points and recorded a season-high of nine assists. Junior forward Jake Johnson scored career-high 12 points and added four rebounds.

The Dragons shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) from the field compared to Northern State 57.4 percent (31-of-54). MSUM held a 27-25 edge on rebounds over the Wolves.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION...
Minnesota State University, Mankato
The Mavericks are 9-2 overall, and 5-0 in NSIC play this season after defeating both Concordia-St. Paul (93-68) and Waldorf (69-59) in its last pair of games. MSU's top scorer is Charlie Brown who is averaging 15.7 points per game. Kevin Krieger is averaging 15.2 ppg, while Cameron Kirksey is averaging 12.3. Cole Harper leads the Mavericks with 28 assists, while Kirksey leads with 12 blocks and 10 steals. Krieger leads the rebounding, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game, while Chris Kendrix is averaging 6.1.  As a team MSU is averaging 83.5 ppg while holding its opponents to 73.6 ppg. As a team, the Mavericks hold an NSIC-best field goal percentage of .493. Minnesota State is led by Matt Margenthaler who is in his 17th season as head coach with a record of 351-143.

Concordia University, St. Paul
The Golden Bears are 1-10, 0-5 NSIC after falling to Minnesota State last week. CSP is led by Bryndan Matthews who is averaging 16.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Matthews also holds team-bests of 13 steals and 36 assists. Avan Ward is averaging 13.3 ppg, while Ted Brown is averaging 8.3 ppg. The Golden Bears are averaging 68.4 points per game compared to its opponents at 79.3 points. Concordia-St. Paul is outrebounding its opponents 35.6-32.0 and also hold an NSIC-best in offensive rebounds, averaging 11.4 per game. Joey James is in his fourth season as head coach of the Golden Bears with an overall record of 38-52.

MORE ABOUT MSUM...
Kretchman Breaks Records
Senior Tanner Kretchman became the all-time career assist leader earlier this season in MSUM's victory over Northern Michigan. Kretchman now has 509 career assists. For the first time in the school's history Kretchman has posted back-to-back seasons with at least 200 assists. In MSUM's loss to Northern State he became the first MSUM player to reach 500 assists. Kretchman is also 12th all-time in scoring with 1,365 points and is now fourth in career three-point field goals made with 218. The senior is also leading the NSIC this season in three-point field goals made, averaging 2.9 per game.

Park Prevails
Junior Addison Park has been steady player for the Dragons to rely on this season. Park has scored in double-digits five of the last six games, including a career-high of 21 points at Northern State. The junior is averaging 4.4 rebound per game and also holds a team-best in blocks with nine. Park leads the Dragons in field goal percentage at .626 (57-of-91) which also ranks at fourth in the NSIC.

Sophomores Shine
With only one senior on the team this year some younger players stepped up to take a bigger role on the team. The Dragons starting lineup includes sophomores Johnny Beeninga whom scored a career-high 26 points in the Dragons win at U-Mary. He is second on the team, averaging 14.7 points per game and adds 29 assists. Another prominent sophomore is Matt Anderson who is averaging 7.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. He also adds four blocks and two steals.

Offensive Distribution
The Dragons have gotten some great offensive distribution early in the season with four players averaging at least 11.0 points per game. Tanner Kretchman (17.4), Johnny Beeninga (14.7) , Addison Park (11.3) and Travaun Coad (11.0).

Who's Back?
The Dragons return eight players from a season ago, including four of the top-seven scorers, including starter Tanner Kretchman. Kretchman averaged 16.7/ppg, sophomore forward Matt Anderson averaged 8/ppg, junior forward Addison Park averaged 7.7/ppg and sophomore guard Jonny Beeninga averaged 4.5/ppg.
 
Newcomers
The Dragons welcome seven newcomers to the squad this season. Junior guard Travaun Coad, junior forward Cody Cox, junior forward Jake Johnson, freshman guard Bryce Irsfeld, freshman guard Siman Sem, freshman guard Gavin Baumgartner and freshman center Jesse Bergh.

Riewer Returns
Former Dragon standout Jordan Riewer has returned this season, except instead of taking the court he will be on the sidelines. The Staples, Minn. native is in his first season as a Dragon assistant coach after playing overseas for the Oettinger Rockets in Germany. While a player, he was named the 2014-15 MSUM Male Athlete of the Year, and helped the Dragons reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time in school history. He left MSUM with 1,382 points scored, and is second in school history with 471 assists and holds the record with 226 three-pointers made.
Walthall Back for 8th Season
Head Coach Chad Walthall is entering his eighth season at the helm for MSUM. Walthall has amassed an impressive 165-57 record (.743) during his time as the head coach of the Dragons. Walthall is joined on the coaching staff by Justin Wieck (fourth season) and Jordan Riewer (first season).

All-Time vs. Opponents
MSUM will meet Minnesota State for the 96th time with the Mavericks leading  the series, 66-33. The Dragons and the Golden Bears are meeting for the 29th time with MSUM leading the series 18-11.

Up Next
The Dragons return home for a four game home stand. Next week MSUM will host Minot State, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m., and U-Mary, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m.