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Alex’s Tale of the Tape #1,702, Date: Mar. 23, 2019

The Minot State men’s hockey team opens the 2019 ACHA National Tournament with a 5-3 redemption win against the University of Illinois. The Fighting Illini ended MSU’s season in the national semifinals the year before.

The No. 6-seeded Beavers led 4-1 with eight minutes to go in the rematch. However, a pair of goals in quick succession by No. 11-seeded Illinois turned the pressure up drastically.

Not willing to throw away the entire season, the Beavers managed to hold on late and added an empty-net goal for good measure to secure a 5-3 victory at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.

“Feels great,” MSU forward Adam Wowryk said. “We knew (Illinois) wasn’t going to quit, and they showed that today… I thought we had a pretty good game overall. There are parts we have to clean up, but still one of our best games of the year.”

More stressful than it needed to be, but still satisfying nonetheless — especially given the history between the two programs.

MSU goals came from Justin Metcalf, Austin Kilian, Kyle Lipinski, Davis Sheldon and Shain Scheschuk.

The Beavers advanced to the national quarterfinals for an eighth straight season and went on to win the national championship three days later.

Alex’s Tale of the Tape #2,219, Date: Jan. 10, 2020

Barging his way inside, Trevon Marshall had his way with the Beavers.

The St. Cloud State senior guard finished two points shy of his career-high, leading the Huskies to an 82-65 road victory against the Minot State men’s basketball team.

After starting the season 6-0, MSU had now lost nine straight games since the start of conference play.

“Our attention to detail in the first half wasn’t good enough,” MSU head coach Matt Murken said. “We let too many of their guys take their best shots. They were in attack mode, and we were pretty reactive.”

Last tied at 16-16 halfway through the first half, SCSU made its decisive move. As the deficit grew, so did MSU’s foul count. They put the Huskies in the bonus by nearly the halfway mark.

Calls weren’t going the Beavers’ way. Kobe Jackson (3) and Kody Dwyer (2) each had multiple fouls before the intermission. Six other MSU players had collected one foul.

The closest MSU got in the second half was eight points.

Marshall scored a game-high 32 points, outpacing MSU senior sharpshooter Kyle Beisch with 24 points. Kody Dwyer added 16 points, and Max Cody chipped in with 15 more for the Beavers.

Alex’s Tale of the Tape #1,464, Date: Nov. 13, 2018

Playing time was shared across the board in the home opener for the Minot State women’s basketball team.

All 13 Beavers that were dressed got on the court, with 11 of them scoring in an 82-48 win over Yellowstone Christian College (2-2) at the Minot State Dome.

MSU leading scorer Mariah Payne even sat out as a precautionary measure with an ankle injury.

The Beavers scored the first seven points and had seven players score in the opening quarter. After the hot offensive start, it took MSU four and a half minutes into the second quarter to finally score off a Calli Delsman jumper.

A flowless second half with plenty of fouls, turnovers and missed shots allowed the Beavers to drain the clock slowly, but surely.

Kari Clements led MSU with 18 points, four rebounds and four steals. Maya Wald finished with 14 points, four rebounds and two steals. MSU shot 49.2% for the game.

“This first home game is always fun to get back and play in front of your school and community,” Wald said. “I’m glad we got a win and showed people what the year is going to look like.”