MINOT, N.D. -- To borrow a phrase from the movie Hoosiers, the rim is still 10 feet high and the court is still 50 feet wide and 94 feet long. While the Minot State men's basketball team will be venturing into new territory when it plays its first-ever Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament quarterfinal game against Minnesota State on Saturday (Feb. 24) the elements of the game remain unchanged.

Minot State, which will meet the Mavericks at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 91-71 victory over Upper Iowa on Wednesday in the Minot State Dome. The Beavers win over the Peacocks marked the first NSIC Tournament win for the program in its six years in the league.

The Beavers, who are the third seed from the North Division, were led by NSIC Player of the Year Tyler Rudolph who posted a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Russ Davis added a season-high 22 points and Nathaniel Moore scored 13 points and Brandon Green added 10 points for the Beavers.

Minot State will be meeting the Mavericks for the second time this season after the Beavers posted a wild 91-83 overtime victory over Minnesota State on Jan. 12 in the Minot State Dome. The Mavericks erased a five-point Minot State lead in the final 15 seconds of regulation to force overtime, and then the Beavers overcame a five-point deficit in the extra session to claim the win. The win was the Beavers first-ever victory over Minnesota State after dropping the first five games played in the series.

Senior Luis Ricci Maia scored a career-high 25 points in the victory over Minnesota State, while Rudolph had 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Mavericks were led by Charlie Brown who scored 24 points.

Rudolph, who was named the NSIC North Player of the Week five times, is currently ranked third in the conference in scoring (20.9), sixth in rebounding (7.4) and third in field goal percentage (.593).

Ricci Maia, who was named Second Team All-NSIC, is second in the conference in assists averaging 6.3 per game and is ninth in steals with a 1.3 per game average. He also averages 11.5 points and is shooting 92.6 percent from the free throw line.

David Akibo, who collected a career-high 14 rebounds against Upper Iowa is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding. The junior is averaging 12.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and leads the Beavers with 26 blocked shots.

Moore also averages in double figures for the Beavers as he comes off the bench to score 10.3 points per contest.

Minnesota State, which is the No. 2 seed from the South Division, advanced to the quarterfinals on the strength of an 82-79 opening-round win over Minnesota State Moorhead. The Mavericks are led by Brown who averages 16.6 points per game, while Kevin Krieger averages 16.2 points per contest.

The other quarterfinal matchups will feature Northern State and Minnesota Duluth at 12 p.m., Southwest Minnesota State and Augustana at 5:30 p.m. and St. Cloud State and Sioux Falls at 8 p.m.

The Minot State-Minnesota State winner will meet the winner of the Northern State-Minnesota Duluth game on Monday (Feb. 26) at 12 p.m. The winners of the Southwest Minnesota State-Augustana and St. Cloud State-Sioux Falls games will meet on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

All four quarterfinal games can be seen live on the Midco Sports Network and the Minot State game can also be heard on KRRZ 1390 AM with Scott Kittell calling all the action and Garrick Hodge providing insightful color commentary.