CROOKSTON, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team will open up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play Fri., Dec. 2 and Sat., Dec. 3 as they take on St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota Duluth.

The Golden Eagles come into the weekend with a 3-2 mark on the season. They won in their last official game last week against University of Jamestown. UMC fell last night 90-58 in an exhibition against NCAA Division I foe South Dakota State University.

St. Cloud State enters the season with a 3-5 mark. They will take on the Golden Eagles Fri., Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall. Minnesota Duluth is 0-4 on the season. They take on UMC Sat., Dec. 3 at 6 p.m.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 13-46 Season at UMC: Third Season

St. Cloud State Huskies
Head Coach: Matt Reimer
Record at SCSU: 34-33 Season at SCSU: Third Season

Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
Head Coach: Matt Bowen
Record at UMD: 39-53 Season at UMD: Fifth Season

Dec. 2, 2016 • St. Cloud, Minn. • Halenbeck Hall • 8 p.m. 
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/scsu/
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/stcloudstate/mbball/
Dec. 3, 2016 • Duluth Minn. • Romano Gymnasium • 6 p.m. 
Video: : https://portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/
Live Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

Weekly Snapshot
Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
So. PG 13 Kobe Critchley (6-0 173, Roseville, Minn.) 6.6 PPG, 2.6 APG
Fr. SG 0 Harrison Cleary (6-1 175, Oak Creek, Wis.) 21.6 PPG, 4.2 RPG
So. 3G 25 Chase Knickerbocker (6-6 189, Annandale, Minn.) 9.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG
R-So. SF 44 Gable Smith (6-7 215, Lodi, Wis.) 8.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG
Jr. PF 54 Jim Warmack (6-7 240, East Grand Forks, Minn.) 5.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Fr. G 1 Connor Gamble (6-0 157, Stillwater, Minn.) 7.0 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Fr. F 21 Chase Johnson (6-6 207, La Crosse, Wis.) 6.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG
Sr. G 14 Xavier Hall (6-1 170, Woodbury, Minn.) 4.2 PPG, 3.2 APG
St. Cloud State
Projected Starters
Sr. PG 22 Scottie Stone (6-4 195, Melrose, Minn.) 14.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG
R-So. SG 20 Gage Davis (6-4 185, Bolingbrook, Ill.) 20.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG
Sr. 3G 30 Mark Hall (6-4 180, Round Lake Beach, Ill.) 9.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Jr. SF 14 Andy Foley (6-5 210, St. Cloud, Minn.) 6.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG
Jr. PF 24 Jon Averkamp (6-6 220, Germantown, Wis.) 7.8 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-So. F 4 Kurt Hall (6-6 225, North Chicago, Ill.) 6.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG
So. G 10 Brindley Theisen (6-2 190, St. Cloud, Minn.) 3.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Fr. G 34 Trevon Marshall (6-0 160, Evanston, Ill.) 3.8 PPG, 1.8 APG
Sr. F/C 52 Nebosa Stanojevic (7-0 250, Belgrade, Serbia) 3.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG
Minnesota Duluth
Projected Starters
So. PG 2 Trevor Entwisle (5-11 170, Neenah, Wis.) 7.5 PPG, 3.5 APG
Jr. SG 21 Kyle Schalow (6-2 170, Sherwood, Wis.) 10.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Fr. 3G 1 Logan Rohrscheib (6-2 185, Eau Claire, Wis.) 9.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Sr. SF 22 Charles Benson (6-6 228, Tucson, Ariz.) 3.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Fr. PF 10 Brandon Myer (6-7 195, Superior, Wis.) 6.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. F 32 Luke Harris (6-8 225, Northfield, Minn.) 9.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG
So. F 11 Sean Burns (6-5 213, Robbinsdale, Minn.) 9.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG
So. G 25 Cody Tomlinson (6-3 180, Ashland, Wis.) 7.3 PPG, 1.5 RPG
Fr. F 35 Trenton Krueger (6-6 200, Eagan, Minn.) 3.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG

#5StoryLines
1. Can UMC get consistent production out of their entire team?

2. Will Harrison Cleary continue his hot start to the season?

3. Can UMC slow down the shooting of UMD and the offensive prowess of St. Cloud State, as a whole?

4. Can the Golden Eagles key on the big two for SCSU of Gage Davis and Scottie Stone?

5. Will UMC be able to knock down the three-ball consistently on the weekend?

#EGFProud
UMC junior Jim Warmack is coming off a career-high performance in UMC's last official game against Jamestown. Warmack had 16 points on 8-of-10 from the field against the Jimmies. Warmack is the most experienced Golden Eagle as he is the only player on the roster who has seen the court in three seasons at UMC. The East Grand Forks native will look to build off of the Jamestown performance this weekend. 

#VeryCleary
UMC freshman guard Harrison Cleary is off to a phenomenal start to his career. The Oak Creek, Wis. native made an instant impression with 34 points in his collegiate debut on the road at Southwest Baptist. He has kept it up averaging 21.6 points per game. Cleary is shooting 54.9 percent from the field, 48.1 percent from beyond the arc and 94.4 percent from the charity stripe. He will look to continue his great start as UMC opens up NSIC play at St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth.

#TakeAGamble
UMC redshirt freshman Connor Gamble came into the program with a reputation as a great shooter. He finally showed just how great he could be in Wednesday's exhibition against South Dakota State. Gamble was a perfect 6-of-6 in the first half. He would finish 7-of-10 from beyond the arc on the game with a team-high 21 points against the Jackrabbits. 


#CallHimMisterSmith
Last season, Gable Smith was most know for his ability to block the basketball as he finished with 51 blocks on the season. As a redshirt freshman Smith has added to his game. He his coming off of a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds against Jamestown. He is averaging 8.2 points and 4.0 rebounds on the season. He is still providing a challenge to opposing offensive players in the paint as well with his nine blocks on the year.

#Tidbits
- Minnesota Crookston enters conference play with a 3-2 mark as Head Coach Dan Weisse looks to continue to build the program. He has another young squad this season with 12 players that are either freshmen or sophomores. The Golden Eagles have been led so far this year by the play of Harrison Cleary, who is averaging 21.6 points per game. They are however looking for more consistency out of the rest of their line-up as teams will most likely begin to key on Cleary because of his hot start. Chase Knickerbocker comes into Friday averaging 9.4 points per game, while Gable Smith is tallying 8.2 points per game.

- The Golden Eagles are averaging 73.4 points per game and giving up 70.4 in their first five contests. They are shooting 48.0 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. A big key defensively will be getting out on the three-pointer as they are allowing teams to hit 40.2 percent from behind the three-point line this season.

- Minnesota Crookston has three upperclassmen on the roster will help the young players to mature as they continue to get a grasp of the collegiate game. Xavier Hall and Riley Rice are both seniors, while Jim Warmack is a junior. 

- St. Cloud State comes into the weekend with a 3-5 mark. Their win-loss record is a little deceiving though as they have played strong competition in their first eight games. The Huskies have several experienced players, along with Division I transfers that make them a dangerous team. Division I transfer Gage Davis is leading the way with 20.0 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. He is shooting 52.5 percent from the field. Senior Scottie Stone has also started out strong for the Huskies with 14.3 points per game.

- The Huskies are shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from beyond the arc. They are averaging 76.3 points per game. One of their keys defensively will be shutting down the three as they have also struggled defensively on the three-ball, giving up 41.8 percent to their opponents.

- Minnesota Duluth is 0-4 on the season. They have also played strong competition entering the weekend. UMD is almost a mirror image of UMC in terms of their youth movement. The Bulldogs have 12 players that are either freshmen or sophomores on their roster. They are looking to replace a strong senior class that departed last season for coach Matt Bowen. Leading the way for UMD on the season has been a familiar name in the NSIC for the last seven years as Kyle Schalow has built off what his brother did at Bemidji State University. Schalow is averaging 10.0 points per game on the season. He is a 55.6 percent three-point shooter on the season. In addition to Schalow, freshman Logan Rohrscheib comes in tallying 9.8 points per game.

- UMC is a strong shooting team, especially from beyond the arc as they are hitting at a 42.1 percent clip. They are a 40.4 percent shooting team from the field. They are tallying 66.8 points per game and giving up 71.2 points per game.