CROOKSTON, MN. – Getting back on track was important, especially in return to home court. Now, the No. 20 Minot State men's basketball team enters the final month of regular season play starting with a midweek matchup in Minnesota.

The Beavers look to seize an opportunity against teams below .500 when they hit the road to face Minnesota Crookston before coming back to the MSU Dome to take on Northern State.

Minot State (20-3, 11-3 NSIC) gets the week started early with the Golden Eagles (4-16, 3-11 NSIC) on Wednesday night at Lysaker Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Then, the Beavers go dancing with the Northern State Wolves (1-19, 0-14 NSIC) again. This time in Minot for a 3:30 p.m. start.

Each season for both Crookston and Northern has not gone to plan, but they are determined to play spoiler. Last time out, the Eagles earned a 74-71 overtime win against the Augustana Vikings, while the Wolves fell in a tight 74-69 contest against Winona State.

This will be the second time this season that the Beavers meet with the Eagles and Wolves. Minot State picked up a decisive 83-52 win over Crookston back on November 26. Then nearly a month later, on December 21, Northern went toe-to-toe with the Beavers only to fall short in a 64-58 win for MSU.

The Beavers will battle Northern in the 78^th all-time meeting between the schools. As for Crookston, it is the 41^st time they and the Beavers will encounter each other.

For players to watch out for, Reid Grant has been a workaholic for Minnesota Crookston. He scores a team-leading 15.7 PPG in 36.4 minutes per game. Right beside him is Andrew Stokes with 10.2 PPG.

On Northern's side, James Glenn brings on a 12.7 PPG average, which leads the team. Marcus Burks also sits in double digits with 10.9 PPG.

Coming off yet another NSIC Player of the Week award and fresh from breaking the all-time single season rebound record in Minot State history, Caleb Van De Griend continues to shine for the Beavers. The big man in the post has not slowed down in his double-double pace as he enters this week with 19.4 PPG and 13.2 RPG. Jalen Cook also brings a scoring punch with 14.7 PPG. Following last weekend, the other starters featuring Ayouba Berthe (12.7), Jaxon Gunville (12.2), and Sam West (10.0) all have now reached double-digit PPG averages.
 
Recent Games
The Beavers got back into rhythm with two big wins on home court. On Friday, topped an improved Concordia St. Paul team by a final score of 92-78. Then in the afternoon on Saturday, the Beavers and Minnesota Duluth wrapped up a tightly-contest physical game in which Minot State emerged with a 75-68 decision. Van De Griend was stellar again with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Berthe broke out with 19 points and 7 rebounds, with Gunville scoring 17 points (shooting 5-10 from three), and West with 14 points.
 
Other Game Notes
» Minot State needs 1 more win to surpass the most wins for a single season in the NCAA era (20 wins - 2017-18 & 2023-24)
» Sam West needs 12 points for 1,000 in his career
» Ayouba Berthe needs 17 points for 1,000 in his career
» Jaxon Gunville (78) needs 3 three-pointers to break the NCAA-era single-season record for made 3s (Thomas Korf – 80, 2014-15)
» Minot State (78 blocks) needs 1 blocked shot to break the NCAA-era single-season record for blocks (78 blocks – 2012-13)