The Bemidji State men’s basketball team will play for a home playoff game in the final weekend of the season against U-Mary and Minot State Feb. 17-18. The Beavers (10-15, 8-12 NSIC) open Friday at 8 p.m. against the Marauders (11-15, 9-11 NSIC) before closing with Senior Night Saturday at 6 p.m. against the Beavers.

BSU split its last weekend of action with a 102-78 loss at No. 24 MSU Moorhead and a 63-59 win at Northern State. With the win, the Beavers stayed just one game behind the fourth spot in the NSIC North standings and need a sweep this weekend to guarantee a home playoff bid.

Despite a strong shooting effort from BSU, MSUM took a 44-30 lead at halftime to control the game. The Dragons outshot the Beavers in both halves, finished above 60.0 percent in both halves, to clinch the divisional and overall NSIC titles.

Green led BSU with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field while the Beavers’ next two leading scorers came off the bench. White followed Green with 13 points and freshman forward Lucas Wendt finished with 12.

Bemidji State shot over 50.0 percent in both halves, 56.5 in the first and 53.1 in the second, and hit 40.0 percent from beyond the arc. MSUM grabbed just one more offensive rebound than BSU, 9-8, but were able to score 11 second-chance points compared to seven for BSU.

After trailing, 40-37, heading into the second half, the Beavers put up one of their strongest defensive halves of the season while holding the Wolves to 19 points. Northern State finished the second half shooting 22.0 percent from the field and 6.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Green led BSU in scoring for the 15th time this season and the sixth consecutive game with 21 points against Northern State. He converted 5-of-6 free throw attempts and added five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. Pekarek followed with 16 points and led BSU with eight rebounds. Both scored at least 10 points in the first half.