Crookston, Minn. – There was a large crowd in Crookston on Tuesday night as they celebrated the dedication of the court inside Lysaker Gymnasium to longtime Head Coach Gary Senske, while the Golden Eagles opened up NSIC play against Bemidji State.
Minnesota Crookston held Bemidji State to just 57 points in a 67-57 victory to start conference play 1-0. Bemidji State came into the game on Tuesday averaging 96 points through two games.
The Golden Eagles move to 2-3 (1-0 NSIC), while the Beavers fall to 2-1 (0-1 NSIC).
The Beavers would do their best to silence the raucous crowd inside the newly branded Gary Senske Court, as Mohamed Kone would bury a three from the left wing to give BSU a 3-0 lead.
Leonard Dixon (R-Jr., F, Demascus, Ore.) would put the Golden Eagles on the board the next possession to cut the lead to one.
That would be the start of an 8-0 run, as
Ethan Channel (R-Jr., G, Beaverton, Ore.) would score back-to-back layups to put the Golden Eagles up 8-3.
The Beavers would cut the lead to 11-9, but a
Uzo Dibiamaka (R-So., G, Adelaide, South Australia) layup would stretch the lead to 13-9.
The two teams would go back and forth in the middle of the first half and the Beavers would eventually take a 20-18 lead.
Trailing 22-20, Minnesota Crookston would go on an 11-0 run, highlighted by
Zach Westphal (R-Sr., G, West Fargo, N.D.), who scored five points in that stretch.
Minnesota Crookston would take a 33-28 lead heading into the halftime break.
Dibiamaka would score the first three points of the half to stretch the Golden Eagle lead to eight.
Dixon would pick a pass off and send the 456 fans inside Lysaker Gymnasium into a frenzy with a huge slam to give the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the night at 12.
BSU would cut the lead to five with 10:38 remaining in the game.
Marcus Thompson (R-Jr., F, Brooklyn, NY) would score a huge bucket; his only of the game to stretch the Golden Eagle lead back to seven.
Travis Bianco would then come down and bury a three, but Dixon would answer with a huge three on an offensive rebound from Dibiamaka to stretch the lead back to seven.
Minnesota Crookston would get the lead back into double-figures after
Zen Goodridge (R-Jr., F, Orlando, Fla.) tipped-in a miss. That would be enough as the Golden Eagles finished off their Highway-2 rivals to move to 1-0 in the NSIC.
The Golden Eagles were led by Dixon's 19 and Dibiamaka's 13, but
Brian Sitzmann (R-Sr., G, Savage, Minn.), Channel and Westphal each pitched in nine points. Dibiamaka also collected two blocks on the night, while Dixon collected a career-high five steals.
The Golden Eagles collected a whopping 50 rebounds on the night, including 18 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second chance points. It was the most rebounds in a game since 2018, when they grabbed 60 rebounds against Oak Hills Christian.
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will travel to Aberdeen, S.D., as they will take on Presentation College (S.D.) in the Dacotah Bank Classic, hosted by Northern State. Tip-off is set for 4 P.M., from Wachs Arena.
