Beavers head to Winona and Mankato looking to solidify NSIC First Round home-court advantage

BSU Men’s Basketball ends regular season on the road at Winona State and No. 4/2 Minnesota State

The Bemidji State University Men’s basketball team enters its final weekend of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season and travels to Winona, Minn., and Mankato, Minn., to face Winona State University and No. 4/2 Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The Beavers (13-13, 9-11 NSIC) begin the final regular season weekend by taking on the Warriors (17-9, 12-8 NSIC) Friday, Feb. 23. at 7:30 p.m. at McCown Gymnasium. BSU then travels to Mankato to take on the Mavericks (24-2, 18-2 NSIC) Saturday at Taylor Center at 5:30 p.m.

BSU enters the weekend holding the eighth-seed in the NSIC Men’s Basketball Tournament and the final seed for home-court advantage in the first round to be held Wednesday, Feb. 28. The Beavers hop to stave off a couple of opponents this weekend as they hold the tiebreaker over ninth-place University of Sioux Falls and lead Northern State University by a game and St. Cloud State University by 1.5 games.

Seeds one through four in the final NSIC standings earn a bye in the first round of the NSIC Tournament while seeds 5-8 hosts 9-12 at their campus sites. The quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds are then held at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., Mar. 2-5.

The Beavers hosted both the Mavericks and Warriors at BSU Gymnasium earlier in the season Jan. 12-13. The then-ranked No. 2/3 Mavericks narrowly escaped Bemidji with a 94-92 overtime victory over the Beavers. BSU bounced back from the tough loss and defeated Winona State 93-58 the following night.

Bemidji State is led by junior John Sutherland who is averaging 21.0 points per game, the fifth-highest scoring average in the NSIC and 21st in Division II. He is followed by senior Dalton Albrecht who averages 16.7 points per game, the 10th best average in the conference. Albrecht paces the NSIC With 13 double-doubles this season, sixth most in DII, while his 267 rebounds this season also leads the NSIC and is the sixth most in the nation.

Sutherland also ranks with Division II’s best and leads all of DII with 224 field goals made. His 59.1 shooting percentage is best in the conference and 16th in the nation. He has also been BSU’s primary distributor and is fourth in the NSIC with 103 assists.

Winona State is 17-9 overall and 12-8 in NSIC play. The Warriors are 9-3 at home this season. The Warriors are averaging 71.7 points per game allowing 69.8. WSU is making 673-1464 (46.0) from the field, 220-617 (35.7) from the three, and 299-433 (69.1) at the foul line.

Connor Dillon leads the way averaging 21.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Making 209 field goals and 71 three pointers. Connor Drew is second on the team averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Minnesota State (24-2, 18-2 NSIC) has only dropped two games this season. The Mavericks are averaging 87.7 points per game allowing 72.2. MSU is making 835-1692 (49.3) from the field, 234-623 (37.6) from the three, and 375-495 (75.8) at the foul line.

The Mavericks moved up to the fourth spot in the most recent NABC Coaches Poll and No. 2 in the D2CSC national poll. They hold a spot in the first central regional rankings by the NCAA as well as Winona State.