•  The Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team is off to their best start in their 20-year history in NCAA Division II with a 6-2 mark through their first eight games. The Golden Eagles will look to start conference out on a strong note Sat., Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. against Bemidji State.

•  The Golden Eagles have claimed three of the last four meetings with the Beavers. Minnesota Crookston won last season in Bemidji, Minn. 65-60 Dec. 16, 2017. They also took the tilt at home against Bemidji State by the tune of 83-57 Nov. 25, 2017.

•  Dan Weisse is 4-4 in his eight games against Mike Boschee while he has served as head coach of the Golden Eagles.

•  CHASING GREATNESS. Harrison Cleary has had an incredible start to his career. The junior already has 1,488 career points for the Golden Eagles. Cleary needs 430 points to surpass Minnesota Crookston great Joe Hasz as the all-time leading scorer. In addition, Cleary is already 25th all-time in points in the NSIC. He has tallied 1,022 career points in conference play. Cleary needs just 35 points to move past a Bemidji State phenom who was a two-sport athlete in Lance Rongstad. Rongstad currently ranks 24th all-time in the NSIC with 1,056 points. Rongstad also was a quarterback for the Beaver football team. 

•  DEFENSE. DEFENSE. DEFENSE. The Golden Eagles have really preached strong defense so far on the 2018-19 season. The Golden Eagles are off to a great start defensively as they are third in scoring defense and fifth in 
scoring margin in the NSIC. Minnesota Crookston is limiting teams to 60.1 points per game through eight games, while shooting just 38.8 percent from the field and 31.0 percent from beyond the arc against Minnesota Crookston. This is a vast improvement from last season where they gave up 75.5 points per game and allowed foes to shoot 47.1 percent from the field. 

•  KNICKERBOCKER IS THE NAME. THREE POINTERS ARE MY GAME. Minnesota Crookston has welcomed back Chase Knickerbocker after the senior missed the last half of the 2017-18 season with an injury. Knickerbocker has been off to a great start for the Golden Eagles. The main area this has been seen is behind the three-point line where the Annandale, Minn., native is shooting 45.3 percent. Knickerbocker is coming off a career-high 29 points last week against University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, including five three-points. The senior is averaging 13.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for the Golden Eagles. He has hit a team-high 24 treys on the season. Knickerbocker also 
currently sits on the all-time scoring charts, where he is ninth all-time. 

•  GETTING IN A GROOVE. Minnesota Crookston senior Josh Collins came in as a mid-year transfer last season from NCAA Division I school University of North Dakota. Collins struggled to get into a groove last year, but has found his place this season. The 6-6 230 senior is averaging 7.4 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the Golden Eagles and has brought great energy to the floor. Collins has scored 10 points in three games this season and secured a career-high 12 rebounds in a win over University of Arkansas-Monticello. He will look to put his imprint on this weekend's game against Bemidji State.

•  RECORD-CHASER. Gable Smith has already shattered the school's blocks mark with 252 career blocks. He is now attempting to get into the Top 10 for points, where he needs just 61 points to surpass Bilal Hill for 10th all-time. In 
addition, Smith is currently fifth all-time in steals with 98. He needs two steals to move past Lee Roberts in fourth. Earlier this season, Smith became the school's all-time leading rebounder. He currently has 507 career rebounds. 

•  CROWN JUHL.  Minnesota Crookston has been without sophomore guard Ben Juhl for the last two games. Juhl has been an integral piece of the puzzle for the Golden Eagles. The Clive, Iowa native is averaging 11.7 points per game in his sophomore campaign. He is shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles are looking to get Juhl back in the line-up soon.

•  UTILITY MAN.  Golden Eagle senior Darin Viken has consistently been a player that can come in and plug in wherever needed. He has recently filled in off the bench during the absence of Ben Juhl. Viken averaged 6.7 points per game in Minnesota Crookston's three games in Puerto Rico. He comes in tallying 4.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. In addition, Viken, who struggled to shoot the three-ball early in his career, has become quite the specialist as he is shooting 53.3 percent from distance on the season. 

•  WINNING.  The Golden Eagles have found unprecedented success in the last two seasons. The Golden Eagles are already just five wins shy of setting their school-record for wins. In addition, Minnesota Crookston enters conference play seeking to set the mark for conference wins. The Golden Eagles picked up seven conference wins on the 2017-18  season.

•  AWAY FROM HOME.  The Golden Eagles picked up just one win away from the friendly confines of Lysaker Gymnasium last season and that came at Bemidji State University. The Golden Eagles already have three victories away from Crookston, Minn., this season. They will look to continue to build on a 3-2 mark away from Crookston as they take on Bemidji State Saturday. 

BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS. The Beavers come into the NSIC opener with a record two games above .500 at 3-1. The Beavers only loss came at the hands of Puerto Rico-Bayamon, 73-72 at the Jay McCormick Classic in West Palm Beach, Fla. Bemidji State scores at a rapid pace, at 86 points per game, and limits opponents to just 68.5. Through four games, the Beavers have lived and died by the three point shot, averaging over 10 makes per game from behind the arc. Turnovers have killed Bemidji State, averaging almost 18 giveaways through 4 games. The last time the Golden Eagles traveled east down U.S. Highway 2 for a date with the Beavers was last December. The Golden Eagles won that match up 65-50.

DISHMASTER. Ja Morgan, a junior guard from Las Vegas, Nev., has been getting teammates involved at an impressive rate. Morgan is averaging 7.3 assists per game, including a season-high nine in a 74-69 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE. Derek Thompson, a native of Cold Spring, Minn., is a do-it-all forward for Bemidji State. Thompson is second on the team in minutes (29.3), second in field goal percentage (.689), first in rebounds (8.5) and the leading scorer (17.8). Thompson scored a season high 27 points in a 95-69 victory over Northland College on 11/17/18.

3-POINT ASSASSIN. European Jacob Hoffman has made more three point shots than he has missed on the season. Through four games, Hoffman is shooting a remarkable 59 percent from downtown, going 19 of 32. Hoffman has hit four three's in three of the first four Beaver game's, including making nine in a season opening 103-63 victory over Oak Hills Christian College.

ALL IN THE FAMILY. The Golden Eagles will come against the second member of the Boschee family on Saturday. Minnesota Crookston played Bemidji State Head Coach Mike Boschee's brother Jeff Boschee earlier this season. Jeff is the Head Coach of Missouri Southern. The Lions defeated the Golden Eagles 87-63 in Puerto Rico. 

Dec. 1, 2018 •  Bemidji, Minn. •  BSU Gymnasium • 4 p.m. 
Video: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/bsu/#liveEventsTab
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=222547
Radio: 1260 KROX AM/105.7 FM, www.kroxam.com, on the KROX app, or on Amazon Alexa
Series Record: Bemidji State leads 31-9 since 1999-00 season
Last Meeting: Dec. 16, 2017, Minnesota Crookston won 65-50 in Bemidji, Minn.
Trends: Minnesota Crookston has won the last two
Coach Weisse: 4-4 against Mike Boschee in meetings between the two coaches

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 34-86 Season at UMC: Fifth Season

Bemidji State Beavers
Head Coach: Mike Boschee
Record at BSU: 79-92 Season at BSU: Seventh Season 

#5StoryLines
1. Can the Golden Eagle defense limit the three pointers for the Beavers?
2. Can Minnesota Crookston keep the Bemidji State bigs off the glass on Saturday?
3. Can the Golden Eagles get a big game out of Harrison Cleary and Chase Knickerbocker?
4. Can Minnesota Crookston take their third-consecutive game from the Beavers?
5. Can the Golden Eagle defense continue their great start to the 2018-19 campaign?

Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
Jr. PG 0 Harrison Cleary (6-1 180, Oak Creek, Wis.), 18.3 PPG, 4.4 APG, 4.1 RPG
R-Fr. SG 14 Brian Sitzmann (6-4 192, Savage, Minn.), 6.1 PPG, 2.3 APG
Sr. SF 25 Chase Knickerbocker (6-7 210, Annandale, Minn.), 13.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG
Sr. PF 30 Josh Collins (6-6 230, Minneapolis, Minn.), 7.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG
R-Sr. C 24 Gable Smith (6-7 225, Lodi, Wis.), 3.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.5 BPG
Top Bench Players
So. G 2 Ben Juhl (6-1 186, Clive, Iowa), 11.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG
R-Jr. G/F 12 Malcolm Cohen (6-6 210, Detroit, Mich.), 7.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Sr. G 13 Darin Viken (6-1 200, Fosston, Minn.), 4.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG
R-So. F 21 Chase Johnson (6-8 240, La Crosse, Wis.), 3.3 PPG, 5.9 RPG

Team Percentages
Field Goal - 46.7 percent (226-of-484)
Three-Point - 40.5 percent (77-of-190)
Free Throw - 69.0 percent (89-of-129)

BEMIDJI STATE
Projected Starters
Jr. PG 3 Ja Morgan (6-1 180, Las Vegas, Nev.), 6.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 7.3 APG
Jr. SG 10 Jacob McNallan (6-2 190, Andover, Minn.), 9.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG
So. 3G 1 Jacob Hoffman (6-3 189, Horsens, Denmark), 15.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Jr. SF 24 Logan Bader (6-7 205, Milltown, Wis.), 15.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG
So. PF 5 Derek Thompson (6-8 218, Cold Spring, Minn.), 17.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. G 20 Logan Longo (6-2 180, Aurora, Colo.), 5.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG
So. F 23 Zach Baumgartner (6-8 215, Kewaunee, Wis.), 9.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG
Fr. G 11 Max Bjorklund (6-1 168, Orono, Minn.), 5.0 PPG, 0.5 RPG
Jr. G 12 Allen Anderson (5-10 165, Brooklyn Park, Minn.), 2.8 PPG, 1.0 RPG

Team Percentages
Field Goal - 54.7 percent (129-of-236)
Three-Point - 42.7 percent (41-of-96)
Free Throw - 72.6 percent (45-of-62)