Kari GIbb/MDN MSU redshirt junior Dylan Gichaba blocks a shot by University of Jamestown redshirt sophomore Cole Glasgow in the home court debut for the 2024-2025 MSU men’s basketball season at the MSU Dome on Thursday, November 21.

Caleb Van De Griend notched a double-double to help the Minot State University (MSU) men’s basketball team knock off the Jamestown Jimmies 86-74 at home Thursday, November 21.

The Beavers (6-0) had five players score in double figures, led by Van De Griend, who secured 23 points and 15 rebounds. Jaxon Gunville tacked on 15 points, while Ayouba Berthe and Sam West chipped in as well with 13 points each.

Van De Griend was happy with the performance, especially with family in town to watch him compete.

“It is always a bit exciting when you finally get to play that first home game in front of the crowd and I got family here,” said Van De Grend. “It was nice to put on a show for them, but I wouldn’t be able to do it with the teammates around me.”

Jamestown started to cut into the deficit late in the first half, but the Beavers would find a way to settle in and pull away with the win.

“We just trusted what we do. Coach tells us to do our job,” said Van De Grend. “Basketball is a game of runs, I’d rather have Jamestown make their runs start of the half cause then I know we’re going to make our run in the last 10 minutes and then we’re going to put them away.”.

The MSU offense was very productive from deep, pouring in nine ‘threes’ on 21 attempts. Gunville was the most prolific shooter for the Beavers, draining five treys in the contest.

MSU did a great job disrupting shots in the contest, coming away with seven blocks. Jaden Wysocki led the way individually for the Beavers with three rejections.

MSU started out the scoring by going on a 10-0 run, culminating in a three from Jalen Cook, to take an early lead with 18:01 left in the first half. The Beavers then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 38-30 advantage. MSU took advantage of six offensive rebounds to score seven second chance points out of 38 total in the half

MSU kept its lead intact before going on a 6-0 run to grow the lead to 69-58 with 7:01 to go in the contest. The Beavers kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 86-74 win. MSU took care of business in the paint, recording 28 of its 48 points in the lane.