Beavers host No. 22 Wolves and No. 23 Dragons in fight for top seeding

Bemidji State enters final home series of regular season

The Bemidji State University Men’s Basketball team fight for a top seed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North Division as it welcomes No. 22 Northern State University and No. 23 Minnesota State University, Moorhead to the BSU Gymnasium this weekend. The Beavers start the action Friday at 5:30 p.m., against the Wolves followed by the Dragons Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

The Series vs Northern State
· Northern State leads the all-time series against Bemidji State, 70-27.
· Bemidji State and Northern State last met earlier this season on Dec. 10, 2022, with an 89-67 win by NSU in Aberdeen, S.D.
· Northern State leads the series 31-17 when playing in Bemidji, Minn.
· BSU and NSU first met Dec. 8, 1959, a 78-48 win by BSU.

The Series vs MSU Moorhead
· MSU Moorhead leads the all-time series against Bemidji State, 85-55.
· The Beavers and Dragons last met Dec. 9, 2022, earlier this season, with a 75-49 win by MSUM in Moorhead, Minn.
· BSU leads the series 36-35 when playing in Bemidji, Minn.
· BSU and MSUM first met Jan. 14, 1950, with a 61-57 win by the Dragons.

The Beavers clinched a berth in the NSIC playoffs with victories over Minot State University 71-65 and University of Mary 90-71. Bemidji State returns to the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

The victory over Minot State was Bemidji State’s 500th NSIC win in program history. The Beavers first ever NSIC win came against Northern State, winning 88-84 on Jan. 5, 1994.

BSU is riding high winning seven of its last 10 games and is 9-2 while playing in the BSU Gymnasium.

The lowest Bemidji State can finish in the NSIC North Division is fourth but can still earn a first-round bye.

BSU stayed hot on the court shooting over 50% in both games on the weekend improving the season average to 49.9%, leading the NSIC and 15th in Division II.

John Sutherland and Mohamed Kone both tallied over 20 points against the Marauders, this is the fourth time this season the pair finished with over 20 points.

Sutherland was close to recording a triple-double at Mary with 26 points, seven rounds and seven assists.

Dalton Albrecht, Kone and Sutherland all put up double figures in both games on the weekend for the second weekend in a row.

Albrecht shot 8-for-13 (61.5%) from the field and 2-for-6 from three to lead BSU in scoring with 19 points against Minot State.

Sutherland leads the Beavers in scoring with 432 points and is sixth in the conference averaging 19.6 ppg. Sutherland continues to lead the conference with a shooting percentage of 59.6% while ranking 28th in the nation.

Sutherland is 11 rebounds away from a top-ten rebounding season in program history. Sutherland grabbed his 200th of the season against Mary and leads the NSIC with 9.1 rebounds per game.

Bemidji State maintains fourth in the NSIC averaging 79.5 points per game. The Beavers are ranked 12th in scoring defense allowing 75.5 points per game.

The Beavers are 15th in turnovers and are 11th in assist to turnover ratio with a 1.13 ratio.