MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead men's basketball is set to kick off competition at the NSIC Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against Winona State on Sunday, March 3. Tipoff between the Dragons and Warriors is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from the Sanford Pentagon.
Live stats and video will be available at msumdragons.com. Please note that NSIC Tournament games are exclusively broadcast by Midco Sports and is available on the network's pay-per-view platform, Midco Sports Plus
Opening Tip
Quick Hits...Winona State handed the Dragons one of their four losses this regular season as the Warriors topped MSUM 83-72 in Winona, Minn., back on January 26. Prior to the loss, MSUM has won the last three contests against the Warriors dating back to November 26, 2021. In the last 10 meetings between the two school, the Dragons have claimed victories in seven of those games.
All-Conference Dragons...Juniors JaMir Price, Jacob Beeninga and Ja'Kair Sanchez as well as senior Dane Zimmer were all named to the All-NSIC team on Thursday. Sanchez and Zimmer were named to the Second Team while Price and Beeninga earned First Team distinction. Price was also named the NSIC's Newcomer of the Year, becoming the third player in program history to earn the honor, alongside Lorenzo McGhee and Justyn Burgess. The junior averaged a collegiate best 14.2 points per game for the Dragons including a 14.9 scoring average in NSIC play. Beeninga scored a team-best 17.1 points per game for MSUM. Sanchez averaged 13 points per game for the Dragons and really exploded in conference games, netting 13.5 points per game in NSIC play. Zimmer averaged 9.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest this season with the senior ending up second in the NSIC in both rebounds per game and total rebounds (259).
Home Sweet Pentagon...MSUM will enter familiar territory against the Warriors inside the Sanford Pentagon. Currently, MSUM has won eight of its last 10 games inside the Sanford Pentagon with the most recent loss coming as part of a regular season challenge against Black Hills State on November 18, 2022. The first win in that stretch came on February 27, 2022 against St. Cloud State in the NSIC Tournament and the most recent victory came against Augustana on January 5. Since its unveiling in 2013, MSUM is 19-8 all-time inside the Pentagon.
Welcome To The Shining Five...Guard JaMir Price landed on the NSIC's final ideation of the 'Shining Five' last week thanks to two big-time performances. Price scored 21 points and nabbed six steals in the win over Sioux Falls on Friday. The junior would net another 20 points with four rebounds in the overtime win over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Price shot a collective 51.7 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point range.
Dragons At The NSIC Tournament...In Sunday's contest against Winona State, MSUM will put its six-game NSIC Tournament win streak on the line. The Dragons have not lost an NSIC Tournament game since February 28, 2021, when MSUM fell to then eighth-ranked Northern State, 78-57. Since the 2019-20 season, MSUM is 9-2 in NSIC Tournament games.
Dat Dude DZ...Senior Dane Zimmer has pulled down a career high 9.3 rebounds a game for the Dragons so far this season. That rebounds per game mark is currently the second-highest tally in MSUM men's basketball history behind only Alex Novak, who pulled in 10.7 rebounds a game in 2010-11.
What They Do Well...The Warriors are sneaky good defensively, allowing just 69 points per game to the opposition, a mark that is fourth-best in the NSIC. Winona State is led by stellar guard Connor Dillon who is second in the NSIC in scoring average at 21.5 points per game. MSUM will also have to deal with the massive frame of Oluminde Adelodun, who poured in 31 points with 10 rebounds against Northern State in the NSIC First Round. Adelodun scored 15 big points against the Dragons on January 26.
Tim Bergstraser is in his second season as MSUM's head men's basketball coach.
