MINOT, N.D. -- The Minot State men's basketball team looks to build on its two-game winning streak as it hosts Bemidji State on Friday (6 p.m., 1/29) and Saturday (2 p.m., 1/30) at the MSU Dome.

The Beavers swept the Golden Eagles with a 72-61 victory on Friday (1/22) and held on to a 77-72 win on Saturday (1/23) to earn their first two-game win streak of the season and even their overall record at 4-4 and conference record at 2-2.

Head Coach Matt Murken joined us for his weekly press conference that you can watch by clicking the play button in the image above. Both games this weekend can be watched live on BEK Sports, Channel 24.1, 26.1 in Minot, and Channel 4.1 on BEK TV East as well as on BEK.tv and the NSIC Network. 

Bemidji State is 2-6 overall and 1-5 in conference play. The BSU Beavers split their most recent series against UMary with a 76-70 loss on Friday (1/22) and a 70-68 win on Saturday (1/23).

Minot State sits in 5th place within the North Division vying for a top-4 spot to qualify for the conference tournament during a season where every single game means that much more. 

COVID-19 Game Day Protocols
 
Facial coverings are REQUIRED in the MSU Dome. Fans are reminded to follow CDC guidelines in the MSU Dome including; proper hand-washing, social distancing, and health information.

Fans and media are not permitted on the playing surface including the scorer's table. Attendance is capped at 1,000 fans and admission is free inside the MSU Dome. In-person interviews are prohibited at the MSU Dome but media may request a Zoom link to the post-game press conference that is performed immediately following the contest. Interview requests must be made by email. 

The NSIC will continue to monitor the landscape and conditions surrounding the pandemic, locally, regionally, nationally, and make any decisions or announcements, as necessary. 

Please be sure to check the MSU Beavers website on a weekly basis for updates on attendance at the MSU Dome.
 
GAME NOTES

WEEKEND MATCHUP
Minot State men's basketball hosts Bemidji State at the MSU Dome. This will mark the second home series of the season for MSU men's basketball after its previous home series against the University of Minnesota Duluth was canceled and replaced with a non-conference road trip to Southwest Minnesota State on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9. It's the first time that the Beavers play at home in three weeks when they split the season-opening non-conference series against Southwest Minnesota State

The game can be watched live on the NSIC Network.

EYES ON THE PRIZE 
The NSIC / Sanford Health Men's & Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championships are set to take place Thursday-Sunday, February 25-28 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  The top teams from each division will make up the eight-team field for the 2021 tournament.

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND
MSU swept both games over Minnesota Crookston on the road. On Friday (1/22), the Beavers were led by redshirt junior Sam Ohlrich who posted a career-high 20 points off the bench in support of three other players in double-digits during the game. Ohlrich shot 7-8 from the field, including 2-2 from three-point land, and went 4-5 from the free-throw line. Max Cody had another standout game scoring 17 points on 7-12 from the field with four assists. Melvin Newbern shot 7-9 from the field and added 15 points and 13 rebounds. It marked Newbern's third double-double of the season and was just the beginning of a strong weekend for the redshirt senior. Newbern then went on to score a career-high 24 points on Saturday (1/23) to help lead the Beavers to a series-clinching 77-72 win over the Golden Eagles.

AGAINST THE BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS
Minot State is 11-9 all-time against Bemidji State. The MSU Beavers hold the longest win streak in the series at five games from Feb. 14-2015 to Feb. 18, 2017. Minot State is 6-3 at the MSU Dome against Bemidji State all-time. The largest margin of victory for MSU happened on Feb. 18, 2017, with a lopsided 86-69 (17 points) win. The MSU Beavers average 76.1 points per matchup against the BSU Beavers. The first matchup for these two opponents came on Dec. 18, 1988, when Minot State defeated Bemidji State 100-89. MSU is 7-3 in the last 10 matchups against BSU.

1,000-POINT CLUB
Senior guard Max Cody has scored 1,033 career-points after scoring 30 points in two games at Minnesota-Crookston last weekend. Cody led the team in 2019-20 with 186 assists, he currently sits second all-time with 440 career-assists, looking to surpass Ryan Johnson (1993-03) who holds the school record with 549 career-assists. So far this season, Cody has dished out 39 total assists which leads the team. Cody scored 24 points in the second game at SMSU (1/9), which was three points shy of his career-high 27 recorded on Jan. 11, 2020, against Minnesota Duluth. He has scored in double-digits in seven of the last eight games played so far this season.

FEEL THE BERN
Redshirt senior Melvin Newbern scored a career-high 24 points at Minnesota-Crookston on Saturday (1/23) to help lift the Beavers past the Golden Eagles 77-72 and clinch a sweeping weekend. Newbern has posted three double-doubles so far this season including a 15-point, 13-rebound effort in Friday's (1/22) game at Minnesota-Crookston. The Robbinsdale Cooper High School product has been shooting at an impressive clip of 55.8 percent (43-77) so far this season. He is 5^th in the NSIC in rebounding with 33 total rebounds for an 8.3 average per game.

HEATING UP
Redshirt junior forward Sam Ohlrich provided a key spark off the bench for the Beavers in the first game at Minnesota-Crookston on Friday (1/22). The Marian Central Catholic product scored a career-high 20 points over a season-high 26 minutes.  The 6'8 post player has shot 65.6% (21-32) from the field and grabbed 23 total rebounds this season while averaging 7.0 points per game.

SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT
The Beavers are 4^th in the NSIC in shooting percentage, making 116 of 236 shots for a 49.2 team-shooting percentage over four games against conference opponents this season. MSU is 5^th in the conference in three-point field goal percentage at 38.2% (29-76), add that with a defense that protects the three-point line at the 3^rd-best rate (.319) in the conference and the Beavers are in the conference tournament hunt within the North Division.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.