MSUM Men Take Down Bemidji State

The Dragons defeated the Beavers at home on Saturday, 83-61

MOORHEAD, MINN – Junior guard Gavin Baumgartner surpassed 1,000 career points and torrid three-point shooting keyed a big first half as the Minnesota State University Moorhead men’s basketball team rolled to an 83-61 win over Bemidji State Saturday at Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.

MSUM has won four in a row and is 4-2 overall and 4-0 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference North. Bemidji State has lost five in a row and fell to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the north.

Baumgartner hit a three-pointer at the 7:24 mark of the first half to surpass 1,000 points for his Dragon career, becoming the 34th MSUM men’s player to surpass that milestone. He finished the contest with 11 points and was one of four Dragons in double figures.

Including Baumgartner’s 11 points, four Dragons scored in double figures, led by freshman guard Jacob Beeninga with 17 points. Junior guard Lorenzo McGhee had 16 points while junior guard Bryce Irsfeld added 12. Baumgartner led with five rebounds assists while junior center Jesse Bergh had nine rebounds.

MSUM shot 27-of-52 (51.9 percent) from the field compared to 38.9 percent (21-of-54) for the Beavers. The Dragons had a dominant 41-22 edge in rebounds.

MSUM was on fire from three-point range, particularly in the first half. The Dragons opened the game hitting 9-of-11 from downtown and finished the first half 10-of-15 (67 percent) from three. Seven different players hit threes in the first half for MSUM — Beeninga (three), senior forward Joe Sevlie (two), McGhee, Irsfeld, Baumgartner, freshman guard Gabe Myren and Bergh (one each). The Dragons finished the game shooting 61.9 percent (13-of-21) from three.

MSUM held a 31-26 lead with 8:03 left in the first half and closed the half on a 22-5 run to push the lead to 53-31 by halftime. Sevlie hit a pair of threes while Bergh and Beeninga had five points during that run which proved decisive.

MSUM’s bench outscored Bemidji State’s 27-0 in the first half and for the game, 36-4, keyed by 17 points from Beeninga and nine from Sevlie, who was 3-for-3 from downtown.

MSUM is scheduled to hit the road to face Minnesota Duluth next Friday and Saturday.

Courtesy: MSUM Athletics