THIS WEEKEND
Four University of Mary seniors take to Bortke Court in the McDowell Activity Center for the final time this weekend when the Marauders close out their 2014-15 home schedule. U-Mary tips off the two-game set against the Bemidji State University Beavers on Friday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m. The last home game of the season features a visit by the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m.

RECORDS
U-Mary is 6-16 overall and 4-14 in the Northern Sun (t-7th NSIC North Division, t-14th overall)
BSU Beavers are 8-14 overall and 4-14 in the NSIC (t-7th NSIC North Division, t-14th overall)
UMC Golden Eagles are 7-15 overall and 5-13 in the NSIC (6th NSIC North, 12th overall)

LAST TIME OUT
The Marauders lost twice on the road last weekend, 82-71 at Minnesota State and 75-64 at Concordia-St. Paul
Bemidji State lost twice at home, 75-71 to Southwest Minnesota State and 69-64 to Sioux Falls
Minnesota Crookston split two home games, defeating Sioux Falls 73-70 in overtime before slipping 73-64 to Southwest Minnesota State.

WEEKEND HEADLINES
Seniors Alex Anderson, Germain Decoste, Chris Mason and Chad Newell play their final home games for the Marauders on Friday and Saturday
A weekend sweep would push the Marauders into sixth place in the NSIC North as U-Mary is tied for 7th with Bemidji State and is one game behind 6th place Minnesota Crookston
The Marauders are 4-2 on Saturdays in 2015
U-Mary closes out a stretch of playing 6-of-8 games at home
Marauders are 32nd nationally in fewest turnovers/game (11.8)
Marquealis Edwards ranks in the Northern Sun top 23 in points, rebounds, steals, assists and assist/turnover ratio

NBC NORTH DAKOTA SPORTS NETWORK TELEVISING MARAUDERS-GOLDEN EAGLES GAMES ON SATURDAY
The U-Mary men's and women's basketball teams make their second live televised appearance of the season when the NBC North Dakota Sports Network air the Marauders-Golden Eagles game throughout central and western North Dakota on Me-TV this Saturday, February 14. Coverage starts at 4 p.m. with the women's game... The North Dakota NBC Sports Network stations televising the contest between the two Northern Sun foes on Me-TV are KFYR-TV (over-the-air channel 5.3) in Bismarck, KMOT-TV (10.3) in Minot, KUMV-TV (8.3) in Williston and KQCD-TV (7.3) in Dickinson... Nine-time North Dakota Sportscaster of the Year and KFYR-TV sports director Lee Timmerman is the television play-by-play announcer for the Marauders. Joining Timmerman as color commentator is former Marauders men's basketball coach Juno Pintar. Marisa DeCandido, the KFYR-TV weekend anchor and host of "Marauders Weekly," is the sideline reporter. Check with your cable provider for the channel of your local Me-TV.

SATURDAY NIGHT HONORS
In addition to Marauders men's basketball seniors Alex Anderson, Germain Decoste, Chris Mason and Chad Newell, several other U-Mary student-athletes will be recognized during Saturday's games. At halftime of the women's game, Butch Raymond Scholarship recipient Barbara Bakh and Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award honorees Troy Guptill, Nick Jolliffe, Michael Mortenson, Grant Singer and Kathryn Stewart will be recognized. Immediately following the women's game, the four men's basketball seniors and the Kevin Olson Award Recipient, Anderson, will be introduced. During halftime of the men's game, women's basketball's lone senior Sloan Turner and Bortke Award winners Joe Berger and Jacquelin Smith are recognized for their accomplishments.

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. BEAVERS
U-Mary leads the series with BSU 10-8
The series began in 1971 with a 92-87 home win for the Marauders
The two teams played twice in the 1987 season with each school winning at home
Since becoming a member of the NSIC, U-Mary captured the first five meetings before BSU broke through with a home win in the 2009-10 season
The Marauders snapped a six-game Beavers win streak over U-Mary with an 86-80 road win at Bemidji State Jan. 3, 2015

Last Meeting
Marquealis Edwards set career-highs with 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Marauders picked up an 86-80 road win over the Beavers on Jan. 3, 2013, for U-Mary's first NSIC win of the season. The Marauders shot over 53 percent from the floor while the Beavers shot 37 per cent. U-Mary held on to the win by making 9-of-12 free throws in the final couple minutes, including five straight in the final 25 seconds. Jaycob Velasco added 18 points, Chris Mason and Bryan Jefferson 12 each and Germain Decoste added 10. Brock Lutes led BSU with 22 points.  

HISTORY LESSON - MARAUDERS v. GOLDEN EAGLES
Since joining the Northern Sun for the 2006-07 season, the Marauders are 13-4 against the Golden Eagles
U-Mary is 7-1 at home and 6-3 at UMC
A 5-game Marauders win streak over the Golden Eagles was snapped with a 64-61 UMC home win on January 2, 2015

Last Meeting
U-Mary struggled offensively in a 64-61 loss at Minnesota Crookston on Jan. 2, 2015. The Marauders shot just 40 percent in the loss to a 53.8 percent effort by the Golden Eagles. UMC held an 8-2 edge in made treys. Despite going 0-for-3 at the free throw line, UMC found a way to win. During a key 2nd half run to build a 60-51 lead, the Golden Eagles scored on six straight possessions and went 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. The Marauders pulled within 64-61 with 58 seconds left but went 0-for-3 from the field to close the game. Marquealis Edwards scored 13 points for U-Mary and had eight rebounds and five assists. Bryan Jefferson added 10 points and six rebounds and Chris Mason and Jaycob Velasco both scored nine. Kevin Larson led UMC with 14 points.

THE OPPONENT: Bemidji State
After finishing last season tied for third overall in the NSIC, earning a share of the NSIC North title and winning 18 games for the third straight year, the Beavers have a new look this season. Bemidji State graduated five seniors off last year's team, including all-conference players Zach Noreen and Maxie Rosenbloom, and the result is a deep slide in the standings. Currently the Beavers are tied for 14th in the NSIC and tied for 7th in the NSIC North. Brock Lutes, the 2014 NSIC Newcomer of the Year, an all-region selection and NSIC 1st team selection after leading the league in scoring, is the Beavers lone returning starter. The senior guard is averaging 16.6 PPG and 4.7 RPG while shooting 42.9 percent from the field. Lutes is the lone BSU player averaging double figures. However, BSU has nine players averaging between 5.8 and 9.2 PPG. The Beavers average 73.6 PPG while allowing 75.7. BSU, shooting 46.8 percent to 45.7 percent for the opposition, has lost 10 of its last 11 games.

THE OPPONENT: University of Minnesota Crookston
First year head coach Dan Wiese had the Golden Eagles off to a strong start to the season. After UMC defeated the Marauders 64-61 on Jan. 2, 2015, the Golden Eagles had a 6-5 record overall and 4-3 record in the NSIC after finishing the 2013-14 season 4-23 overall and 1-21 in league play. Since defeating U-Mary, though, UMC has lost 10 of 11 games and has tumbled to 13th in the NSIC and 6th in the NSIC North. Derrick Redd leads UMC in scoring at 12.3 PPG and in assists with 42. He is shooting 45.8 percent and picks up 4.1 rebounds/game. Tyler West is the other Golden Eagles player in double figures, scoring 10.0 PPG with a team-high 7.0 RPG. Kevin Larson has a team-high 33 treys and converts 50.8 percent of his 3-point attempts.

REWIND
Leading Minnesota State University 55-54 with 8:57 remaining, visiting U-Mary pushed the homestanding Mavericks to the end. MSU, receiving votes in the national poll, then went on a 10-2 run to grab control of the game. The two teams were tied six times on the night and exchanged leads 17 times. Bryan Jefferson hit 9-of-12 field goals and scored 21 points for U-Mary. Marquealis Edwards added 15 points, Jaycob Velasco 13 and Chris Mason 11. Zach Monaghan had 20 points and nine assists for MSU and Assem Marei posted 15 points, ten rebounds and three blocks... A second half power outage left the Marauders short in a 75-64 loss at Concordia-St. Paul. Down 38-37 after a high-octane first half, U-Mary shot just 33 percent after intermission and scored only 27 points. Led by Jaycob Velasco and Damonta Henry, the Marauders bench outscored the starters 43-21. Velasco hit five treys and scored 19 points. Damonta Henry was 4-of-6 behind the arc and chipped in 16 points. Edwards hd nine assists and eight rebounds. Nuni Omot had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Bears.

SENIOR DAY
The Marauders will honor their four seniors on Valentine's Day. Here are U-Mary head coach Jevin Budde's comments on each of the players...

Alex Anderson: "Alex plays his role of being a 3-point specialist very well and it was never more evident when he knocked down two big 3's in our win over Northern St. He is exactly what you want in a senior; a player that you can trust to bring great leadership and work ethic every day. His willingness to put the team above himself goes unmatched."
 
Germain Decoste: "Germaine has been instant energy for us the last two years. You can always depend on Germain to come up with a big defensive play for our team. Germaine has been a team first guy, willing to sacrifice his offense for whatever the team needs him to do. He will end his career among the top five in blocks in school history."

Chris Mason: "Chris has the ability to score the basketball in bunches. During his two years at Mary he has put the team on his back offensively to help lead us to victory, and there was no bigger game than his 27 point performance vs. Northern St. the day after his son was born. But what's been best about coaching Chris was the opportunity to watch him grow as a young man."

Chad Newell: "Chad's contributions to this team over the past two years have not been seen on the court. He has a tremendous work ethic and brings great energy and enthusiasm to practice every day. Chad is the most selfless person I have ever had the opportunity to coach."

SATURDAY NIGHT'S ALRIGHT (FOR WINNING)
The Marauders have won four of their six Saturday games in 2015.

VELASCO ON FIRE
Jaycob Velasco continued his tremendous play of late with another strong performance last weekend. The junior forward scored 32 points in the two games, popping for 13 at Minnesota State and 19 at Concordia-St. Paul. In the last six games Velasco is averaging a team-high 16.2 PPG and converting 59.4 percent of his shots. Behind the arc he is clicking at 52 pecent (13-of-25). The transfer from Cosumnes River CC has now reached double figures in seven of his last nine games and 14 times overall. He is averaging 10.6 PPG and shooting 47.%.

DIVERSIFICATION
Four Marauders are averaging double digits in points for the season with a fifth almost there. Marqualis Edwards leads the way at 12.9 PPG, followed by Bryan Jefferson (10.8 PPG), Jaycob Velsaco (10.6 PPG) and Damonta Hendry (10.2 PPG). Chris Mason is on the cusp at 9.6 PPG.

STAT STUFFER
One of the top all-around players in the Northern Sun, junior guard Marquealis Edwards is 23rd in the NSIC in scoring (12.9 PPG), 20th in rebounding (5.2 RPG), 4th in assists (4.4 APG), 4th in steals (1.6 SPG), 10th in assists to turnover ratio (1.7) and 13th in defensive rebounds (4.1 RPG).

REJECTION COLLECTION
In just one-and-a-half seasons, Germain Decoste has cracked the Marauders career leader board in blocked shots (since 1989). The senior forward has 37 career blocks, moving him one past Kurt Schwamp (1998-2000) for ninth. For the season the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native is 10th in the NSIC with 0.9 blocks/game. He had 20 blocks last season in 27 games. Just ahead of Decoste in blocks with 38 are Mark Hill (1994-99) and Jordan Wilhelm (2007-11) The all-time school leader is Marc Hawley (1995-97) with 108... Decoste is also 12th in the NSIC in shooting percentage (54.7) and averages 7.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

CHANGE UP
After rolling with the same starting lineup of Chris Mason, Damonta Henry and Marquealis Edwards on the perimeter and Germain Decoste and Bryan Jefferson on the front line for the first five games of 2015, the Marauders swapped Alex Anderson for Henry in the win at Upper Iowa. It was the first career start for the senior guard, who has now started seven straight contests. Henry has responded by providing the Marauders instant offense off the bench, scoring 62 points in the seven games.  

CHARITY DISPARITY
In Northern Sun contests, U-Mary opponents have made more free throws this season than the Marauders have attempted. The Marauders have taken 258 free throws while foes have made 284. U-Mary is 174-of-258 at the line (67.4%). Opponents are 284-of-381 (74.5%).