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The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team (15-9, 11-7 NSIC) are on the road again this weekend. The Dragons travel to St. Cloud, Minn., to take on St. Cloud State on Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. The next day, MSUM travels to Duluth, Minn., to take on Minnesota Duluth at 5:30 p.m. 
 
LOOKING BACK...
The Dragons are coming off a weekend split. MSUM took down Southwest Minnesota State 67-52 on Feb. 7. The Dragons lost the next day against Sioux Falls 79-68.
 
In the win over SMSU, MSUM shot 52.9 percent (27-of-51) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from beyond the arc compared to 48.9 percent (22-of-45) from the field and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from three for the Mustangs. Sophomore guard Gavin Baumgartner led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three. Senior guard Johnny Beeninga scored 14 points. Sophomore guard Bryce Irsfeld scored eight points and dished out a team-high four assists. Junior forward Kaedrick Williams scored six points, recorded three assists, and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. 

In the loss to Sioux Falls, MSUM shot 47.6 percent (20-of-42) from the field and 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from three compared to 54.7 percent (29-of-53) and 27.3 percent (3-of-11) from beyond the arc for the Cougars. Baumgartner led the Dragons with 21 points. Baumgartner also added five rebounds and three steals. Beeninga scored 15 points for MSUM. Sophomore center Jesse Bergh scored 11 points and had a team-high six rebounds along with a team-high five blocks.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION…
St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State is 13-11 overall this season and 10-8 in the NSIC. The Huskies are coming off a weekend split, beating Wayne State 90-68 last Friday and losing to Augustana (S.D.) 81-58 on Saturday. In the loss to Augustana, SCSU shot 32.7 percent (17-of-52) from the field and 25 percent (5-of-20) from three. Freshman guard Anthony Roberts led the Huskies with 18 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Trevon Marshall had 17 points along with four assists. Marshall is averaging 21.4 points per game and 4.8 assists per game. Roberts is averaging 14.4 points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game.
 
Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota Duluth is currently 18-6 overall and 13-5 in conference play. The Bulldogs are coming off a weekend sweep, taking down Augustana 73-67 on Friday and Wayne State 91-70 on Saturday. In the win over Wayne State, UMD shot 57.4 percent (35-of-61) from the field and 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from three. Four players scored in double figures for the Bulldogs. Senior forward Brandon Myer led with 21 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Drew Blair scored 18 points, while senior guard Logan Rohrscheib scored 17. Senior forward Alex Illikainen had 15 points. Senior guard Trevor Entwisle scored six points and dished out 11 assists. Myer is averaging 20.7 points per game along with 9.0 rebounds per game. Myer has been named NSIC player of the week three times this season. Blair is averaging 16.5 points per game and Illikainen is averaging 13.7 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game.
 
More About MSUM...
Statistical Leaders
Sophomore guards Gavin Baumgartner and Bryce Irsfeld lead the Dragons in scoring. Baumgartner is averaging 17.6 points per game on 51.4 percent shooting while Irsfeld is averaging 12.2 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting. Freshman forward Dane Zimmer leads the way in field goal percentage, shooting 68.6 percent from the field this season. From the free throw line, Irsfeld is 90.7 percent (68-of-75). On the glass, Zimmer leads with 6.2 rebounds per game. Senior guard Johnny Beeninga leads with 3.1 assists per games. 
 
Beeninga Bounces Up
Beeninga surpassed 1,000 career-points in the loss to Winona State on Jan. 3. Beeninga became just the 33rd Dragon to hit 1,000 points in the program's history. With 29 total points over the weekend, Beeninga continues to climb the MSUM all-time scoring list. Beeninga now has 1,097 career points, which puts him ahead of Manuel Stancil for 30th all-time. Beeninga is just nine points behind the 29^th spot.
 
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 15-9 overall and will battle with two tough NSIC opponents this weekend against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth.
 
Road Trippin'
The Dragons are set to play their next two games on the road again. Since the 2008-09 season, the Dragons are 82-70 on the road, which is a win percentage of 53.9 percent. In all-time matchups with St. Cloud State, the Dragons are 48-85. In their previous meeting this season on Jan. 25, the Dragons won 80-78 at home. In all-time matchups with Minnesota Duluth, the Dragons are 44-82. In their previous meeting this season on Jan. 24, the Dragons lost at home 77-70.   
 
On the Horizon
Following the road games against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, the Dragons return home. MSUM hosts Minot State on Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The next day, the Dragons host UMary at 5:30 p.m. Those two games will be the last regular season games before the NSIC tournament.