Kari Gibb/MDN MSU junior Ayouba Berthe (20) and his teammates have the Beavers on a two game win streak over the weekend and at No. 20 / No. 17 in the polls this week.

A pair of home wins over the weekend helped the Minot State University (MSU) men’s basketball team move back into the top 20 in the nation as the Beavers climbed two spots in this week’s NABC coaches poll released today.

The Beavers (20-3 overall, 11-3 NSIC) beat Concordia, St. Paul 92-78 in a battle for second place in the NSIC on Friday, then completed the weekend sweep with a 75-68 win over Minnesota Duluth on Saturday.

Thanks to the two wins, MSU picked up 102 points in this week’s NABC Division II Coaches’ Poll to land at No. 20.

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) leading Southwest Minnesota State moved up one spot to No. 13 with 211 points and was the only other team from the league ranked in the Top 25, while Winona State had 2 points and was among the schools listed in “others receiving votes.”

MSU is back in action tomorrow night, Wednesday, January 29, playing at Minnesota Crookston, then hosts Northern State at the MSU Dome on Saturday, February 1.

The top four teams in the NABC poll remained the same with Washburn (Kan.) (19-0) at No. 1 followed by Daemen (N.Y.) (18-0) at No. 2, Nova Southeastern (Fla.) (17-1) at No. 3, and Alabama Huntsville (17-1) at No. 4. Missouri S&T (16-1) moved up to No. 5, jumping from the No. 9 spot.

MSU moved up to 17 in this week’s D2CSC poll voted on by the nation’s college sports communicators. The Beavers received 122 points in the poll.

Southwest Minnesota State was up one spot to No. 9 with 223 points in the D2CSC poll, while Concordia, St. Paul had 8 points and is among the teams listed in the “others receiving votes.”

The top three in the D2CSC poll remained the same with Washburn (Kan.) (19-0) at No. 1 followed by No. 2 Nova Southeastern (Fla.) (17-1), and Daemen (N.Y.) (18-0) at No. 3, while Alabama Huntsville (17-1) and Ferris State (Mich.) (18-3) traded spots with Alabama Huntsville moving up to No. 4 and Ferris State slipping to No. 5.

MSU climbed to a program-best No. 4 in the nation this season and has been ranked in eight consecutive NABC polls and five consecutive D2CSC polls this winter.