Beavers travel to Florida to face Tampa and Eckerd for Thanksgiving Classic

Coming off a pair of home wins, the Bemidji State University Men’s Basketball team will now travel to the Sunshine State to face Tampa on Friday and Eckerd on Saturday. Both games will start at 6 p.m. Central Time and will be played on Eckerd’s court.

Bemidji State is 3-1 on the season and tallied over 100 points in wins against both Northland (105-62) and Oak Hills Christian (112-31) this past week in Bemidji. Prior to those games, the Beavers opened the season in Kansas City defeating Henderson State (76-63) and falling to Missouri Southern (61-69).

BSU is averaging 88.5 points and allowing 56.3. Bemidji State is 139-278 (50) from the field, 42-131 (32.) from three and 34-63 (54) at the foul line. Opponents are making 89-229 (38.9) from the field, 10-62 (16.1) from three and 37-54 (68.5) at the foul line.

(Sorry that the camera tilted back in the tripod for this interview)

John Sutherland is averaging 21.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Dalton Albrecht is averaging a double-double with 16.3 points and 11.8 rebounds. Johnny Tennyson adds 9.8 points and Colin Schaefer at 8.8 points. Sutherland is shooting over 71 percent (37-52), with Albrecht also over 50 percent making 25-47 (53.2).

Tampa is 2-2 on the season, picking up wins against Allen and Francis Marion and have losses to Benedict and Georgia College. Their last game was on Nov. 18 against Georgia College falling by a score of 86-80. Amari Davis is averaging 22.5 points per game to lead the Spartans. Next closest on the team is Tyson Leitao with 11 points per game and Jesse White is at 10.8 points. Leitao is averaging a double-double with 12 rebounds per contest.

This will be the third meeting for Bemidji State against Tampa since the 2019 season with the Spartans winning the previous two meetings. The teams last played during the 2021-22 season with Tampa claiming the 67-64 victory. The previous two meetings were also played in St. Petersburg. During the most recent matchup, Sutherland had 10 points and four rebounds.

BSU will then close the trip against host Eckerd. The Tritons are 2-1 on the season with wins against Allen and Puerto Rico-Bayamon. Their only loss was to Benedict to start the season. All three games have been played at home as their last game was on Monday picking up the 89-56 win against Puerto Rico-Bayamon.

Isaiah Placide leads the team averaging 21.7 points. Kent Garard tallies 11.7 points. Timothy Thompson is close to averaging at double-double with nine points and 8.7 rebounds.

This will also be the third meeting for Bemidji State against Eckerd since 2019. The Beavers are 2-0 in the series winning the first meeting by six points and the most recent matchup in 2021-22 by four points. Sutherland and Albrecht both played in that last meeting in St. Petersburg. Sutherland had eight points and six rebounds, while Albrecht added two points and two rebounds.