Game Notes
MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (15-7, 9-5) will remain on the road this week as they travel to face Minnesota State University, Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.
HOW TO FOLLOW…
Stats (Minnesota State): https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/mbball
Stats (Concordia-St. Paul): https://cspbears.com/sidearmstats/mbball
Video/Audio: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/msum/index.htm
THIS WEEK…
MSUM is on the road to take on Minnesota State University, Mankato on Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Concordia-St. Paul on Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m.
LOOKING BACK…
MSUM defeated the University of Minnesota Duluth by a score of 79-58 on Friday night in Duluth, Minn. Senior guard
Addison Park led the team with 22 points (18 points in the second half) to go along with six rebounds. Senior guard
Travaun Coad had 20 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Junior guard
Johnny Beeninga recorded 16 points and three assists.
The Dragons shot 50.0 percent (33-of-66) from the field compared to 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the Bulldogs. The Dragons outrebounded the Bulldogs 43-38.
The following night, MSUM fell to St. Cloud State by a score of 99-84. Coad led the team with 20 points, while Park and freshman guard
Gavin Baumgartner each had 16 points. Freshmen guard
Bryce Irsfeld and Baumgartner each had four assists. Coad and Park led the team in rebounds with 10 and 7, respectively.
MSUM shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the field compared to 59.6 percent (34-of-57) from SCSU. The Dragons outrebounded the Huskies 33-25.
The Dragons are tied with St. Cloud State for second in NSIC North and are just two games behind Northern State.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION…
Minnesota State University, Mankato
The Mavericks are 14-6 overall and 10-4 in the NSIC after two wins last week. Minnesota State defeated Wayne State College (Neb.) 90-79 and Augustana University (S.D.) 79-73. MSU is led by Cameron Kirksey who has averaged 16.9 points per game in 17 games played. Carlos Anderson follows with 14.4 points per game and averages 6.1 rebounds per game. Kevin Krieger averages 8.1 rebounds per game in 14 games played to go along with 13.9 points per game. Juwan McCloud averages 3.4 assists per game to lead the team and contributes 12.9 points per game. The Mavericks average 83.0 points per game to rank second in the NSIC—behind MSUM. MSUM was 0-2 against Minnesota State-Mankato last season and trails the all-time series 33-65.
Concordia-St. Paul
The Golden Bears are 8-12 overall and 3-11 in the NSIC. Last week CSP fell on the road to Augustana University (S.D.) by a score of 78-70 and dropped a 77-68 game to Wayne State (Neb.) the following night. Concordia is led by Isaiah McKay who averages 19.3 points per game (eighth in NSIC) and Bryndan Matthews who averages 18.7 points per game (ninth in NSIC). Cody Carlson and Hayden Baughman have averaged 8.6 and 7.7 points per game, respectively. Matthews is the leading rebounder with 8.5 per game while McKay followed with 4.8 per game. Matthews and McKay lead the team in assists per game with 4.3 and 3.5, respectively. MSUM fell to CSP 72-62 last season but leads the all-time series 18-12.
MORE ABOUT MSUM…
Consistency from Seniors
This year's senior class has been a steady presence on the court throughout the season. With seven freshmen on the roster, the seniors are relied on for their leadership and experience.
Addison Park is enjoying his most productive season, scoring in double-digits in 19 games and averaging 15.5 points per game.
Travaun Coad has scored in double-figures in 17 games and averages 14.6 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game.
Jake Johnson and
Briton Bussman average 4.3 and 3.1 points per game, respectively.
Park Reaches 1,000 Point Milestone
Senior forward
Addison Park had 16 points on Jan. 19 and in doing so reached 1,004 career points. Park becomes the 32
nd Dragon to reach the 1,000-point milestone and is averaging a career-best 15.5 points per game. After averaging 19.0 points per game last week, Park moved into 31
st place on the 1,000 Point Club list (1,042 points).
Freshmen Shine
Freshman guard
Gavin Baumgartner has been a scoring threat this season and averages 14.5 points per game. Baumgartner has been a clutch performer with a career-high 28 points in wins over Bemidji State and Minot State and has scored in double-digits in 17 games. Baumgartner was recently listed as one of seven NCAA Division II Freshmen to watch as March approaches (link below). Freshman guard
Bryce Irsfeld averages 10.5 points per game and a team-best 3.1 assists per game.
Siman Sem has contributed 5.8 points per game and has started in 14 games.
Jesse Bergh averages 4.8 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, and 1.1 blocks per game. Freshman have contributed 42.5 percent of the team's total points this season.
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2019-01-14/dii-mens-basketball-keep-eye-these-7-impact-freshmen-march
Offensive Distribution
There has been no shortage of offense this season, and the points are coming from a variety of players on the court. The Dragons have five players who average 10.5+ points per game:
Addison Park (15.5),
Travaun Coad (14.6),
Gavin Baumgartner (14.5),
Johnny Beeninga (12.0) and
Bryce Irsfeld (10.5). In conference competition, Park and Baumgartner rank fourth and fifth in the NSIC in field-goal percentage with .561 and .550, respectively. MSUM is the only team to have two players ranked in the top ten. MSUM leads the NSIC by averaging 86.6 points per game—an 11 point increase from last season.
All-Time vs. Opponents
MSUM will face Minnesota State for the 99
th time as the Dragons trail the all-time series 33-65. MSUM and Concordia-St. Paul will meet for the 31
st time and lead the all-time series 18-12.
Up Next
The Dragons will be back home as they take on Southwest Minnesota State University on Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) on Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.
