Beaver Fever Friday – Kaden Hart – @BSUBeaversMBB

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Beavers welcome in Dragons and Wolves for final series games of 2019-20

Bemidji State University men’s basketball will host Minnesota State University Moorhead and Northern State University to close out their regular season series Jan. 10-11 at BSU Gymnasium. The Beavers open the weekend at 7:30 p.m. on Friday against the Dragons before playing at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday against the Wolves.

MSU Moorhead leads the all-time series against Bemidji State, 99-86. The Beavers won the first meeting against the Dragons this season, 79-67. BSU shot 51.8 percent from the field and held MSUM to 37.5 percent shooting while also outscoring the Dragons in the paint, 44-24. Bemidji State also turned 14 MSUM turnovers into 19 points. Senior guard Ja Morgan led BSU in scoring with 21 points while playing all 40 minutes. He went 8-of-14 from the field and added four assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block. Junior guard Nick Wagner followed in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

The Beavers are going for just the second season sweep of the Dragons since the 2003-04 season after taking a season sweep in 2015-16. The last season split came during the 2013-14 season.

The series began Feb. 17, 1928, a 33-22 win by MSU Moorhead. Bemidji State has faced MSU Moorhead more than any opponent in program history at 184 games.

Northern State leads the all-time series against Bemidji State, 66-27. NSU won the first meeting of the season against BSU, 81-73, in Aberdeen, S.D. Although the Beavers nearly shot 50 percent, the Wolves went 52.9 percent from the field and turned 11 BSU turnovers into 16 points. Bemidji State hit a conference-season-high 13 3-pointers but pulled down a conference-season-low 28 rebounds in the loss.

Morgan led BSU in scoring with 20 points, his third of four 20-point games this season. Senior forward Logan Bader and junior guard Griffin Chase each followed with 13 points in 33 minutes each. The last win by BSU over NSU was Feb. 11, 2017 in Bemidji.

The series began Dec. 18, 1959, a 78-48 win by Bemidji State.