Beavers push for first round home playoff seeding against Cougars and Mustangs
BSU Men’s Basketball plays final home weekend of regular season against Sioux Falls and SMSU
The Bemidji State University Men’s Basketball team spends its final weekend at home of the regular season and hosts University of Sioux Falls Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m., followed by Southwest Minnesota State University Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
The Beavers (12-12, 8-10 NSIC) have won their last two games and enter the weekend ninth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings, one spot back of a home-court advantage in the first round of the NSIC Men’s Basketball Tournament.
The Beavers trail seventh and eighth seed Augustana University and Sioux Falls by just one game and fifth-seed SMSU by three games setting up a critical weekend at BSU Gymnasium. Tickets are available here and are just $12 for adults. The games will also be streamed online at www.NSICNetwork.com/bsubeavers with Kevin Reid from the Beaver Radio Network providing play-by-play.
Bemidji State and Sioux Falls met earlier this season on Jan. 6 with the Beavers edging out the Cougars by one-point in a 75-74 victory in Sioux Falls. Sophomore Johnny Tennyson hat the buzzer-beater game-winning three to clinch victory for BSU while junior John Sutherland totaled a career-high 35 points.
The Beavers and Cougars have met for just 12 meetings in the all-time series with BSU earning five victories and Sioux Falls earning seven. However, the Beavers have not defeated the Cougars in Bemidji since Feb. 2, 2013.
Bemidji State will then turn around the next day to play Southwest Minnesota State at 5:30 p.m. The two teams met earlier on Jan. 5 with SMSU cruising to a 65-82 victory over the Beavers. Junior BJ Davis led the Beavers with 21 points and went 7-for-12 from the field including 5-for-8 from three.
Bemidji State will honor its lone senior, Dalton Albrecht, before Saturday’s game in part of Senior Day.
The Beavers are 43-55 all-time against the Mustangs and last defeated SMSU in Bemidji on Jan. 27, 2023.
Bemidji State is led by Sutherland who is fifth in the conference with a 21.0 scoring average while Albrecht follows averaging a career-high 17.3 points per game. Albrecht is also the conference’s leading rebounder averaging 10.2 per game and ranks seventh in DII.