Men’s Hoops to take on Golden Bears, Mavericks this weekend

The Bemidji State University men’s basketball team heads to Concordia University-St. Paul and Minnesota State University Friday, Jan. 26 and 27 to wrap up a road-heavy January schedule. The Beavers begin the weekend against the Golden Bears at 8 p.m. Friday at Gangelhoff Center followed by the weekend finale against the Mavericks at 6 p.m. Saturday at Stewart Center.

The Beavers and Golden Bears will play the 32nd game of the series that began Jan. 15, 2000 in St. Paul, Minn., a 51-49 win by CSP. Concordia-St. Paul holds a slim lead in the series record, 16-15, while Bemidji State took last season’s lone meeting in Bemidji, Minn., 78-62.

Sophomore guard Jai’Vionne Green tied a previous career-high 25 points against CSP last season while leading BSU in scoring. He shot 8-for-16 from the field and 4-for-8 from long range while pulling down seven rebounds. Senior guard Christian Pekarek went 7-for-11 from the free throw line and finished with 12 points and seven assists.

Bemidji State and Minnesota State’s history dates back to Jan. 27, 1933 and spans 104 games. The Mavericks lead the all-time record, 67-35, and took last season’s meeting, 86-73, in Bemidji. MSU has taken the last two matchups in the series, with BSU’s last win coming Jan. 15, 2016, 75-74.

Green led BSU in scoring for the second half of the team’s weekend with 18 points, while going 3-for-3 from long range and 5-for-6 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Sharif Black followed Green with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and led BSU with seven rebounds and four assists.