Who to watch in Beavers men's, women's NSIC home openers

Dec. 2—BEMIDJI — The Bemidji State men's and women's basketball teams find themselves in very similar positions early in the season.

Both teams have started their seasons with three wins apiece. They both lost the NSIC opener to Minnesota Duluth last week, and also split games in Florida during their respective Thanksgiving tournaments.

As both teams return to the First City on the Mississippi, they're gearing up for the NSIC home opener against Minnesota State Moorhead on Thursday. The BSU men's team (3-3) will tip off at 5:30 p.m. The women's team (3-2) will follow at 7:30 p.m.

While it's early in the season, reliable scorers are beginning to emerge for the Beavers, particularly Kassandra Caron, John Pecarich and Henry Shannon III.

Caron, a senior from Eden Prairie, is a transfer from Missouri Western State. She leads the Beaver in points with 88 and has the highest shooting percentage among starters at 46%. She's scoring 17.6 points per game, good for

sixth in the NSIC.

Caron's done all of it by averaging only one 3-pointer per game. She excels at finding points from inside the arc and drawing fouls. Her 25 points from the free throw line more than double the second-best BSU player (Evyn Eppinga with 12).

As for the men's program, Pecarich has been lights-out from long range this season. He's made 22 3-pointers this season and has an eye-popping 48% 3-point shooting percentage.

All those 3s have contributed to his 113 points on the year, making the junior the highest scoring Beaver, but not by much. Shannon is only two points behind Pecarich without a 3-point bucket to his name this season.

Shannon, a transfer from William Woods, has played the most minutes for the Beavers this season, averaging 34 per game. He also leads BSU in blocks with 13.

The Beavers will look to rely on those scorers as they take on Minnesota State Moorhead at the BSU Gymnasium. The MSUM women's team has started 4-1, defeating Minnesota Crookston in its NSIC opener last week.

The MSUM men's program has lost two straight to begin its season in the Central Region Challenge. The Dragons are 4-1 since then, including 1-0 in the NSIC after smashing Minnesota Crookston 95-69.