Men's Basketball | 1/8/2020 2:34:00 PM

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The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (8-6, 4-4 NSIC) is set to play their next four games on the road. The Dragons take on Bemidji State on Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a matchup with Minnesota Crookston the next day at 5:30 p.m. 
 
LOOKING BACK...
The Dragons are coming off a weekend split. MSUM lost to Winona State 89-77 on Jan. 3. MSUM won the next day against Upper Iowa 98-84. The Dragons are now 2-3 at home this season against NSIC opponents. 
 
In the loss to Winona State, the Dragons shot 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from beyond the arc. Senior guard Johnny Beeninga scored eight points and broke the 1,000-point mark for his career. Junior forward Kaedrick Williams led the Dragons with 14 points and also pulled down five rebounds. Sophomore guards Gavin Baumgartner and Siman Sem each scored 11 points for MSUM. Sem also led the Dragons on the glass with seven rebounds. Freshman forward Dane Zimmer scored nine points, while freshman forward Jack Rusch scored eight.
 
In the win over Upper Iowa, the Dragons shot 55.4 percent (36-of-65) from the field and 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from beyond the arc. Williams and Baumgartner each scored 22 points to lead the Dragons. Williams and Baumgartner also pulled down six rebounds each. Sem posted a double-double, scoring 18 points and team-high 11 rebounds. Rusch and sophomore guard Bryce Irsfeld each scored 12 for MSUM. Beeninga scored 10 points and dished out a team-high five assists.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION…
Bemidji State
Bemidji State is 8-4 overall this season and 5-3 in the NSIC. The Beavers are coming off a 91-82 win over St. Cloud State. Bemidji State shot 57.1 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from three in the win. Junior forward Derek Thompson led the Beavers with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Max Bjorklund scored 20, while junior guard Nick Wagner had 19 for BSU. Wagner leads the Beavers in scoring this season with 17.4 points per game, followed by Senior guard Ja Morgan with 14.8 points per game, who has been out since Dec. 13 with a broken hand. Morgan's injury has yet to slow the Beavers down, as they took home a big win against No. 21 ranked Augustana. Bemidji State leaned heavily on their starters, playing just six Beavers in the win.
 
Minnesota Crookston
Minnesota Crookston is currently 7-7 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Since beating the Dragons on Dec. 6, the Golden Eagles have gone 1-5, with their latest loss coming on the road against Minnesota Duluth 78-64. In the loss, Minnesota Crookston shot 32.8 percent from the field and 18.5 percent from three. Senior guard Harrison Cleary was the only Golden Eagle to score in double figures, putting up 25 points. Cleary leads Minnesota Crookston this season with 29.2 points per game. Senior guard/forward Malcolm Cohen follows with 9.1 points per game. The Golden Eagle offense runs through Cleary, as he has been putting up huge numbers throughout his career. Last season, Cleary dropped a career-high 47 points against MSUM on Dec. 7, 2018. In their second meeting of the season in January of 2019, Cleary scored 27 points in a loss to the Dragons. In the first matchup between MSUM and Minnesota Crookston, Cleary scored 33 points, which accounted for nearly half of Crookston's 68 total points. 
 
MORE ABOUT MSUM…
 
Statistical Leaders
Sophomore guards Gavin Baumgartner and Bryce Irsfeld lead the Dragons in scoring. Baumgartner is averaging 16.1 points per game on 54.1 percent shooting while Irsfeld is averaging 13.4 points per game on 48.9 percent shooting. Freshman forward Dane Zimmer leads the way in field goal percentage, shooting 69.9 percent from the field this season. From the free throw line, Baumgartner is 94.1 percent (48-of-51). On the glass, sophomore guard Siman Sem leads with 6.0 rebounds per game, followed by Zimmer who are averaging 5.5 rebounds per game. Senior guard Johnny Beeninga is averaging 2.8 assists per game, while Irsfeld is averaging 2.4 assists per game. Defensively, Sem leads the team in steals with 1.2 steals per game.
 
Beeninga Breaks Through
Senior guard Johnny Beeninga surpassed 1,000 career-points in the loss to Winona State on Jan. 3. Beeninga becomes just the 33^rd Dragon to hit 1,000 points in the program's history. Beeninga sits at 1,016 total points, which puts him just 13 points behind Pete Lysaker for 32^nd all-time.
 
Milestone Watch
Head coach Chad Walthall is just one win away from his 200th career win as head coach of the Dragons. Walthall would become just the second MSUM men's basketball coach to hit the 200-win mark. Walthall also has the second most wins in MSUM men's basketball history, trailing only behind Dave Schellhase, who coached the Dragons to 298 wins from 1975-82 and 1987-98.
 
Run it Back
The 2019-20 Dragons squad features three of their top five scorers from the 2018-19 season. Last year's freshman class contributed 1,172 points which accounted for 44 percent of the team's total offense. MSUM finished 19-12 in the 2018-19 campaign, which included a seven-game winning streak against NSIC opponents. The 19th win for the Dragons marked the second largest improvement from one season to the next with a 12-game improvement. The Dragons are led by team captains Johnny Beeninga, Bryce Irsfeld, and Gavin Baumgartner. MSUM's basketball program is under the guidance of head coach Chad Walthall, who is in his 10th season as head coach of the Dragons. Currently, the Dragons are 8-6 overall and are looking to grab wins this weekend against Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. MSUM lost both matchups at home against both teams earlier in the season.
 
Road Warriors
The Dragons are set to play the next four games on the road. Since the 2008-09 season, the Dragons are 78-63 when playing on the road, which is a win percentage of 55.3 percent. In all-time matchups with Bemidji State, the Dragons are 100-86. In their previous meeting on Dec. 7, the Dragons lost at home 79-67. In all-time matchups with Minnesota Crookston, the Dragons are 36-12. In their previous meeting on Dec. 6, the Dragons lost in the final seconds at home 68-65.
 
On the Horizon
Following the road games against Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston, the Dragons hit the road again. The Dragons won't return home until a Jan. 24 matchup with Minnesota Duluth. MSUM heads to Wayne, Neb., to square off against Wayne State on Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m.  The Dragons then travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., to face No. 24 ranked Augustana on Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m.