Minnesota Crookston Men's Basketball Opens 2021 at American Family Insurance Classic in Duluth


The Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team finally kicks off the regular season after a pair of wins in exhibition play over Hamline University and Mayville State, both at home in Crookston. The Golden Eagles defeated the Pipers by 19 and the Comets by 11. Two double-digit wins in the preseason is a really nice thing for the Golden Eagles, who will look to rebound from a 2-14 season ago. This weekend, they will compete in the American Family Insurance Classic, hosted by the University of Minnesota Duluth. The Golden Eagles will take on East Central University of Oklahoma on Friday and the University of Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday. It will be a good test for the Golden Eagles, who have a lot of new faces on their roster.

• YOU GO UZO. One of the new faces for Head Coach Dan Weisse and his Golden Eagles is Iowa Central Community College transfer Uzo Dibiamaka. The smooth shooting lefty from Adelaide, South Australia started in both exhibition games for the maroon and gold and averaged 8.5 points, while also dishing out 5.5 assists per game, including eight in the win over Mayville State. Dibiamaka is going to be a key cog for the Golden Eagles and the play of the redshirt sophomore will go a long way in determining the success of the Golden Eagles.

• DYNAMITE FROM DIXON. Leonard Dixon proved last Thursday night that it probably isn't a good idea to leave him open. If you do, there is a great chance that he is going to make you pay. In 27 minutes against the Comets, Dixon was 14-25 from the field and 4-11 from deep, scoring 32 points, including scoring nine in a row at one point in the second half. Dixon averaged 24 points in the two exhibition games and the Golden Eagles are hoping that Dixon can continue that strong shooting this weekend to open the regular season.

• NEW YEAR, NEW OPPONENTS. The Golden Eagles will kick off the 2021 season against opponents that they have never lined up against before in program history. The Tigers of East Central University and the Lopers of Nebraska-Kearney will be a brand new look for a program that features nine new players this season. It seems like a good weekend to go 1-0 against both opponents this Friday and Saturday.

• IMPROVEMENT ON THE GLASS.  In the NSIC, teams better be able to rebound the basketball on both ends of the floor. Through two exhibition games, Minnesota Crookston proved that the all important rebounding stat could be a strength. Minnesota Crookston outrebounded both the Pipers and the Comets by double-digits, including winning the rebound battle by 14 last Thursday night. Zen Goodridge averaged eight rebounds per game, while Dixon pulled down 12 against Hamline. The Golden Eagles look to be much improved on the glass this season.

• FOLLOW THE LEADER. Although there are a bunch of newcomers to the Golden Eagles this season, there are two mainstays that have been in the program for a number of years. Both Brian Sitzmann and Zach Westphal were on the 2019 team that stunned Augustana in the NSIC Playoffs and made the quarterfinals for the first time in school history, while Sitzmann started in 16 games that season. The Golden Eagles will look to both redshirt seniors for leadership this season.

• WHAT CHANNEL IS HE ON? Ethan Channel joins Dixon as the first Oregon natives to play for the program since 2014-15, when Tyler West Jr., who hailed from Portland, donned the maroon and gold. Channel is expected to be a key part of the Golden Eagles this season, after averaging 10.0 and 4.9 rebounds per game a season ago. Channel had four games with 14 or more points a season ago, including a career-high 19 in a loss at home against Minot State. If Channel can stay healthy, expect him to have a big year for the Golden Eagles this season.

• GET OFF TO A GOOD START. Minnesota Crookston will look to do something this season that they haven't done since 2016-17 and that is to start 1-0. That season, the Golden Eagles won their first game over Southwest Baptist University, but finished 8-21. It won't be an easy task to start 1-0, as East Central fell to Arkansas by just three in an exhibition game. The Razorbacks are a year removed from a sweet sixteen appearance in the Big Dance.

• BRINGING WESTPHAL EAST.  Zach Westphal always plays hard. Whether he is getting five or 25 minutes, the redshirt senior from West Fargo, N.D., always plays hard. In the two exhibition games, Westphal shot 8-10 from the field, including scoring 14 points in the win over Hamline. Off the bench, Westphal is a very valuable piece for the Golden Eagles and is expected to play a giant role this season for the new look Golden Eagles.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 56-118 Season at UMC: Eighth Season


East Central Tigers
Head Coach: Max Pendry
Record at ECU: 0-0 Season at ECU: First Season


Nebraska Kearney Lopers
Head Coach: Kevin Lofton
Record at UNK: 83-67 Season at UNK: Seventh Season


Weekly Snapshot
Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
R-Jr. G 10 Uzo Dibiamaka (6-3, Adelaide, South Australia)
R-Jr. G 1 Ethan Channel (6-4, Beaverton, Ore.)
R-Sr. G 14 Brian Sitzmann (6-4, Savage, Minn.)
R-Jr. F 11 Leonard Dixon (6-7, Demascus, Ore.)
R-Jr. C 15 Zen Goodridge (6-8, Orlando, Fla.)
Top Bench Players
R-Sr. G 2 Zach Westphal (6-2, West Fargo, N.D.)
R-So. G 3 Dylan Hushaw (6-2, Las Vegas, Nev.)
Fr. G 12 Ron Kirk, Jr. (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.)
R-So. C 13 Nathaniel Powell (6-9, Nottingham, England)

East Central
Projected Starters
R-Fr. G 0 Brennan Burns (5-10, Bethany, Okla.)
Sr. G 5 Jalen Crutchfield (6-5, Norman, Okla.)
Jr. G 12 Ellis Lee Jr. (6-3, Saginaw, Mich.)
So. F 23 Shemar Smith (6-7, Norman, Okla.)
R-Sr. F 24 Josh Apple (6-8, London, England)
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 3 Romello Wilbert (6-3, The Woodlands, Texas)
 
Nebraska-Kearney
Projected Starters
Sr. G 1 Matt Brien (6-4, Oomaru, New Zealand)
Sr. F 5 Darrian Nebeker (6-6, West Jordan, Utah)
R-Sr. 30 Austin Luger (6-8, Alliance, Neb.)
Sr. G 24 Nick Huston (6-4, Rigby, Idaho)
R-Jr. G 10 David Simental (6-2, Pueblo West, Colo.)



#OPPONENTOUTLOOK
EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY. The Tigers will be a team to watch in the Great American Conference (GAC) this season. The Tigers will hop on a plane to Duluth feeling pretty good about themselves after falling to Arkansas by just three in Fayetteville, Ark., about two weeks ago. The last time ECU started out 1-0 was the 2019-20 season when they started out with a win over Wayne State College by double-figures. The Tigers finished 17-12 that season. They will be a great test for the Golden Eagles.

TEAMING UP WITH TRAE.  The Tigers have one of the best guards at their disposal in senior Jalen Crutchfield. The Norman, Okla., native started in all 19 games a season ago, while being named to the All-GAC Second team during the regular season as well. The transfer from Stetson University was teammates with All-Star NBA point guard Trae Young in high school at Norman North High School for two seasons. Stopping Crutchfield will be vital to the Golden Eagles success against the Tigers.

AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE OPPONENT AWAY. In their three point loss to the Razorbacks, it wasn't Crutchfield who led the way for the Tigers, but rather it was fellow All-GAC Second Teammate Josh Apple. The London native scored 23 points on 9-13 shooting from the field and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team as well. Finding a way to neutralize Apple will be important this weekend.

JUST ONE CHANCE TO GO 1-0. Max Pendery will open up a new era of Tiger basketball this weekend in Duluth. The University of Ohio alum was named the 12th Head Coach in program history and will look to start his career 1-0 against the Golden Eagles. Pendery has a solid resume, making stops at Ashland University as well as Arkansas of the SEC.

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY. The Lopers will be a lot like the Golden Eagles in the fact that they will have a ton of new faces this season. UNK finished last season at 8-14 in the MIAA, and finished 11th out of 14 teams in the ultra-competitive MIAA.

IT'S AUSTIN, NOT LEX. Okay, I know it's Lex Luthor, but Luger is close enough, right? Anyways, fifth-year senior Austin Luger is the most experienced Loper and will look to lead the way this season. Luger was named All-MIAA honorable mention a season ago after averaging 13.8 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game. Luger also scored a career-high 26 points against Lincoln in late January of last season.

DARRIAN DOES IT ALL. West Jordan, Utah native Darrian Nebeker isn't going to blow you away with his stats, but man, he can do a lot of things to help a team on the basketball court. Nebeker played in all 22 games a season ago, including starting in 18 games, while averaging 9.3 points per game and just over five rebounds per game. Nebeker is a guy that every coach in America wants on their team.

HE'S COOKIN'. Winston Cook is a guy who didn't play a ton of minutes for Head Coach Kevin Lofton last season, but the Wahoo, Neb., native could play a bigger role this season. Cook averaged just over three points a game last season, but did pull down seven rebounds in a game against Central Oklahoma in February. With a number of question marks this season, Cook could very easily play a bigger role than he ever has this season.