Men's Basketball 1/12/2017 10:44:00 PM Shawn Smith, Sports Information Director

UMC Men's Basketball Takes On Mustangs and Cougars at Lysaker Friday and Saturday

CROOKSTON, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team will take on Southwest Minnesota State University and University of Sioux Falls this weekend at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles will take on the Mustangs Fri., Jan. 13 at 8 p.m., while the Cougars will battle the Cougars Sat., Jan. 14 at 6 p.m.

The Golden Eagles enter the weekend with a 6-10 (2-8 NSIC) mark. Southwest Minnesota State currently is tied for the NSIC South lead with a 13-2 (8-2 NSIC) record. University of Sioux Falls enters the weekend with a 10-8 (6-4 NSIC) record. They have won their last four games.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 16-54 Season at UMC:Third Season

Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs
Head Coach: Brad Bigler
Record at SMSU: 121-97 Season at SMSU: Eighth Season

Sioux Falls Cougars
Head Coach: Chris Johnson
Record at USF: 134-98 Season at USF: Eighth Season

Jan. 13, 2016 • Crookston, Minn. • Lysaker Gymnasium • 8 p.m.
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/umcrookston/mbball/
Radio: 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM

Jan. 14, 2016 • Crookston, Minn. • Lysaker Gymnasium • 6 p.m.
Video: : https://portal.stretchinternet.com/crk/
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/umcrookston/mbball/
Radio: 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM

Weekly Snapshot
Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
So. PG 13 Kobe Critchley (6-0 173, Roseville, Minn.) 7.3 PPG, 3.5 APG
Fr. SG 0 Harrison Cleary (6-1 175, Oak Creek, Wis.) 21.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG
So. 3G 25 Chase Knickerbocker (6-6 189, Annandale, Minn.) 10.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG
R-So. SF 44 Gable Smith (6-7 215, Lodi, Wis.) 7.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.5 BPG
Jr. PF 54 Jim Warmack (6-7 240, East Grand Forks, Minn.) 6.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. F 21 Chase Johnson (6-6 207, La Crosse, Wis.) 4.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG
R-Fr. G 1 Connor Gamble (6-0 157, Stillwater, Minn.) 8.3 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Sr. G 14 Xavier Hall (6-1 170, Woodbury, Minn.) 3.3 PPG, 1.9 APG

Southwest Minnesota State
Projected Starters
So. PG 3 Ryan Bruggeman (6-0 177, Pelican Rapids, Minn.) 12.8 PPG, 4.1 APG
Jr. SG 14 K.J. Davis (6-2 172, Annandale, Va.) 10.9 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Jr. 3G 21 Turner Moen (6-4 213, Lake Mills, Wis.) 5.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Sr. SF 5 Mitch Weg (6-7 234, Worthington, Minn.) 10.1 PPG, 6.7 RPG
Jr. PF 35 Carter Kirk (6-8 242, Mountain Lake, Minn.) 10.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. G 20 Taylor Schafer (6-3 175, Bismarck, N.D.) 12.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Sr. F 15 Joey Bartlett (6-6 228, St. Peter, Minn.) 12.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG
So. F 22 Michael Lee (6-6 220, Dawson, Minn.) 6.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Sr. G 4 Drew Osmundson (6-1 183, Owatonna, Minn.) 2.5 PPG, 1.7 RPG

Sioux Falls
Projected Starters
Sr. PG 3 Mack Johnson (6-3 189, Roseville, Minn.) 14.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.1 APG
Jr. SG 11 Zach Wessels (6-2 182, Austin, Minn.) 8.6 PPG, 3.7 RPG
R-Sr. 3G 34 Clint Thomas (6-3 210, McCall, Idaho) 11.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Jr. SF 14 Tom Aase (6-6 220, Austin, Minn.) 4.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG
So. PF 23 Drew Guebert (6-8 200, Apple Valley, Minn.) 15.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. F 15 Daniel Hurtt (6-6 245, Kansas City, Mo.) 12.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Fr. F 54 Devin Green (6-7 240, Cascade, Iowa) 3.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Sr. G 4 Kebu Johnson (6-4 214, Hopkins, Minn.) 3.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG

#5StoryLines
1. Can UMC play a full 40 minutes of basketball?

2. Will the Golden Eagles be able to slow down the six players who score in double-figures for SMSU?

3. Can UMC shut down the shooting of Sioux Falls?

4. Can Gable Smith continue his offensive success that he had against St. Cloud State?

5. Will Harrison Cleary be a major factor for the Golden Eagles?

#ChaseIsOnTheCase
UMC sophomore wing Chase Knickerbocker had a major impact for the Golden Eagles on Tuesday. Knickerbocker came on big with 16 points as UMC overcame a 21-point deficit to come back against Bemidji State. UMC would fall short 77-75, but Knickerbocker is a big reason the Golden Eagles wre even in the game. The sophomore is tallying 10.6 points per game.

#ItIsVeryCleary
UMC freshman guard Harrison Cleary is off to a phenomenal start to his career. The Oak Creek, Wis. native continues to be one of the best scorers in the NSIC. Cleary is second in scoring with 21.1 points per game. He had 29 points on 13-of-24 from the field against Bemidji State. Cleary has tallied 20 or more points in nine games this year. He had career highs of 34 points twice this season. Cleary had 34 against Southwest Baptist and Bemidji State.

#TheCardiacKids
The Golden Eagles are right on the cusp of success. UMC has picked up six wins on the year and has come very close in several other games. In four games this season, the end-result has come down the final possession. One of those games happened on Tuesday against Bemidji State as UMC fell short on a last second short. The Golden Eagles also have last-second wins over the Beavers (at home) and St. Cloud State last Saturday. They have another loss that came on a miracle shot from Ayob Ayob of MSU Moorhead. The Golden Eagles have lost four games by less than 10 points this season, showing that they are right there in most of their games. They will look to continue to make progress this weekend against SMSU and USF.

#BlockingMachine
Gable Smith has been a force on the defensive end in his year-and-a-half playing with the Golden Eagles. He leads the NSIC with 40 blocks on the season. He is coming off of a career-high seven blocks against St. Cloud State, which set the school record for blocks in a game. Smith is also coming off of one of his best offensive games in his career. He had 17 points in a big win over St. Cloud State. The Lodi, Wis. native will look to continue to make an impact on both sides of the ball as he continues to grow as an all-around player.

#Tidbits
- Minnesota Crookston comes into the weekend with a 6-10 (2-8 NSIC) mark. They have gone 1-2 in their last three games, but the one win was a big one as they defeated one of the NSIC's best in St. Cloud State, 92-89. The other two weren't as pretty as they lost big to University of Minnesota Duluth and then had to overcame a tough first half against Bemidji State University. The Golden Eagles did a great job of coming back against the Beavers as they came back from down 21 to have a chance of a last-second shot from Harrison Cleary. The UMC shot would go long as they fell 77-75 to the Beavers.

- Connor Gamble continues to grow in his role for UMC. He is coming off of one of his best games with the Golden Eagles with 18 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the win over St. Cloud State. The sharp-shooter is hitting three-pointers at a 44.0 percent clip. Gamble is averaging 8.3 points per game for the Golden Eagles.

- Minnesota Crookston is averaging 73.1 points per game, while giving up 76.6 points per game to their foes. UMC is shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from beyond the arc. UMC has had struggles from the charity stripe as they are just shooting 67.4 percent.

- Southwest Minnesota State comes in with a 13-2 (8-2 NSIC) mark, as they currently are tied for the NSIC South lead with Upper Iowa. The Mustangs have six players averaging double-figure scoring as they are the definition of balanced this season. SMSU is led by guard Ryan Bruggeman's 12.8 points per game. Off the bench, Taylor Schafer is averaging 12.3 points per game and shooting 38.8 percent from beyond the arc. In the post, SMSU looks to Joey Bartlett, Mitch Weg and Carter Kirk, who are all averaging in double figures.

- The Mustangs are averaging 82.2 points per game, while they are giving up 74.1 points per game to their
opponents. Southwest Minnesota State is shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the arc.

- Sioux Falls enters the weekend with a 10-8 mark. The Cougars have won their last four games. Sioux Falls has been led in the post by Drew Guebert's 15.6 points per game. At guard, USF looks to senior guard Mack Johnson's 14.9 points per game. In addition, Clint Thomas comes in averaging 11.0 points per game while shooting 52.1 percent from beyond the arc.

- Cougars are tallying 75.1 points per game. They have one of the best defenses as they are giving up just 67.6 points per game. USF is shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from beyond the arc.

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