Golden Eagle Men Open 2022 with Highway-2 Rivals Bemidji State on Sunday

#TIDBITS

The Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team will ring in the new year with a trip down Highway-2 to take on the Bemidji State Beavers. The Golden Eagles handed the Beavers their first loss of the season in the conference opener earlier this season, with a 67-57 victory over BSU. Minnesota Crookston held the Beavers to just 33 percent shooting from the field. It is a good opportunity for the Golden Eagles to end the six-game losing streak and ring in the new year on a high and positive note.

• ONE MAN SHOW. With Brian Sitzmann out of the lineup against Minot State and UMary, some Golden Eagles got a prime opportunity to get inserted into the lineup and show what they could do. That included Brooklyn native Marcus Thompson, who was a one-man wrecking crew in the first half against Minot State. Thompson scored an unreal 10 straight points for the Golden Eagles at one point and scored a career-high 13 first half points for the Golden Eagles, who scored 51 first half points. The redshirt junior scored a season and career-high 15 points against the Beavers on a perfect 7-7 shooting from the field. Thompson is an energy guy off the bench, but proved he can also score if needed for the maroon and gold.

• FIRST HALF FIRE POWER. Playing in the Minot Dome is never an easy thing for opponents, including the Golden Eagles. Although the Golden Eagles came up short against the Beavers, Minnesota Crookston scored a season-high 51 points against Minot State. The 51 points led to a season-high of 83 points against Minot State and it was the highest point total in a half since Nov. 14, 2018, when the Golden Eagles scored 58 points in the second half against Oak Hills Christian in Crookston. The program record for most points in a half came in 2018, when the Golden Eagles scored 65 second half points against Minnesota Crookston in December of that year.

• NO STATIC WITH THIS CHANNEL. Man, what a run Ethan Channel has been on. The redshirt junior from Beaverton, Ore., currently leads his team in scoring at exactly 13 points per game and has scored in double-figures in six out of his last seven games, including 21 points at Minnesota Duluth. Channel has made five or more shots from the field in six games this season and has a three-point make in every game except one. In his last seven games, Channel is averaging 14.6 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field. It's been a really good second season in Crookston for the Oregon native.

• THE POWER OF POWELL. Ever since Nathaniel Powell was inserted into the starting lineup three games ago against MSU Moorhead, he has upped his play. The redshirt sophomore from Nottingham, England is averaging nine points in those three starts, as well as four rebounds per game, while also playing 20 or more minutes in each of the last three games. Powell has been really good since being named as one of the starters and might solidify himself in the starting lineup, not only for this year, but for years to come as well.

• NEW YEAR, SAME LEO? The same old Leonard Dixon is exactly what the Golden Eagles are hoping for in 2022. Dixon is currently 10th in the NSIC with makes from deep per game at 2.2, which is tied with two others. Dixon has a game with five three-point makes this season and a pair of games with four makes from deep this season as well. Dixon has made a huge impact in almost every game this season, but would like to improve on his 33 percent shooting from deep this season.

• NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION. Minnesota Crookston has a chance to right the ship and get off to a great start in 2022. The Golden Eagles will look for their first win in the new year since 2019, when they drubbed St. Cloud State, 76-53, in front of the home crowd. The Golden Eagles will look for a sweep over their NSIC North rival, which would be their first sweep over Bemidji State in a season since 2017.

• WILD GAMES IN BEMIDJI. Since 2015, there have been some absolutely insane games between these two programs located just 88 miles apart. Since 2015, there have been five games decided by ten points or less, including an overtime game that went in favor of the Beavers, 96-95, in 2018. When these two teams meet up on Sunday afternoon, fans of both programs should expect some wild things and a game that comes down to the last minutes, maybe even the final possessions.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 62-127 Season at UMC: Eighth Season


Bemidji State Beavers
Head Coach: Mike Boschee
Record at BSU: 114-137 Season at BSU: Ninth Season


Weekly Snapshot
Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
R-So. G 10 Uzo Dibiamaka (6-3, Adelaide, South Australia) 10.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 3.5 APG
R-Jr. G 1 Ethan Channel (6-4, Beaverton, Ore.) 13.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG
R-Sr. G 14 Brian Sitzmann (6-4, Savage, Minn.) 10.2 RPG, 2.7 RPG
R-Jr. F 11 Leonard Dixon (6-7, Demascus, Ore.) 11.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG
R-So. C 13 Nathaniel Powell (6-9, Nottingham, England) 5.8 PPG, 3.9 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Sr. G 2 Zach Westphal (6-2, West Fargo, N.D.) 4.2 PPG, 1.7 RPG
R-Jr. F 23 Marcus Thompson (6-6, Brooklyn, N.Y.) 2.6 PPG, 1.2 RPG
R-Jr. C 15 Zen Goodridge (6-8, Orlando, Fla.) 3.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG
R-So. G 3 Dylan Hushaw (6-2, Las Vegas, Nev.) 3.6 PPG 2.8 RPG

BEMIDJI STATE
Projected Starters
Sr. G 3 Mohamed Kone (6-2, Apple Valley, Minn.) 11.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG
Sr. F 5 Derek Thompson (6-8, Cold Spring, Minn.) 9.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG
Sr. G 11 Travis Bianco (6-6, St. Petersburg, Fla.) 13.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG
Sr. G 12 Tyler Behrendt (5-11, Germantown, Wis.) 8.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG
So. F 23 John Sutherland (6-7, Grand Rapids, Minn.) 11.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. F 0 Dalton Albrecht (6-7, Grafton, N.D.) 7.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG
Sr. G 1 Gare Ewefada (6-2, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 6.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG
So. F 24 Wyatt Olson (6-6, Saint Peter, Minn.) 1.2 PPG
Sr. F 15 Cody Landwehr (6-7, St. Cloud, Minn.) 3.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Fr. G 20 Jayce Lowman (6-3, Mandan, N.D.) 3.4 PPG


NSIC Rankings

Scoring Offense: 15th
Scoring Defense: 8th
Scoring Margin: 14th
Free Throw Pct.: 15th
Field Goal Pct.: 13th
Field Goal Pct. Defense: 3rd
3-Point Field Goal Pct.: 9th
3-Point Field Goal Pct. Defense: 10th
Rebounding Offense: 10th
Rebounding Defense: 15th
Rebounding Margin: 14th
Blocked Shots: 3rd
Assists: 14th
Steals: 10th
Turnover Margin: 15th
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 16th
Offensive Rebounds: 10th
Defensive Rebounds: 9th


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY. Bemidji State is coming off of a split in North Dakota in mid-December, where they dominated the University of Mary in Bismarck and then fell in heartbreaking fashion to Minot State the next night to wrap-up their 2021. The Beavers will look for a split with the Golden Eagles and have to be feeling good about it, as they haven't lost to the Golden Eagles in Bemidji since 2017

INSTANT IMPACT. Travis Bianco has made the move from Valdosta, Ga., to Bemidji and has been an instant impact player for the Beavers. Bianco leads the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game and is shooting over 40 percent from both the field and from deep. He also leads the Beavers with 5.6 rebounds per game on the season as a guard. The last time these two teams met the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Bianco scored nine points on 3-8 shooting from the field.

THOMPSON TRAVELS. One might guess that Derek Thompson is super excited to see the Golden Eagles in his home gym. The reason might be because he dropped a career-high 45 points on 17-24 shooting from the field, 5-6 from deep and 6-6 shooting from the charity stripe. This season, Thompson only has two games in double-figures, but does have a 33 point output in a win over St. Cloud State earlier this year. The senior is averaging 9.4 points per game on the season.

HOW MUCH FOR THAT LAND? Both John Sutherland and Cody Landwehr are shooting the ball extremely well this season. Sutherland was the lone double-digit scorer for BSU when they played the Golden Eagles earlier this season and is second on the team in scoring and shooting percentage. Although it's only on 29 shot attempts, Landwehr is currently third on the team in shooting at 58.6 percent from the field.

THE ULTIMATE FACILITATOR. Every great team has a player who can pass the ball effectively and get his team quality shots. For the Beavers this season, that person is Mohomed Kone. The senior from Apple Valley is currently third in the NSIC at 4.7 assists per game and has had four assists in each game, but one. He had an eight assist game against Northland of Wisconsin and a pair of six assist games against Minnesota Duluth and Minot State.

NEW YEAR, SAME GOAL. For the second straight season, BSU will look to start the new year off on the right foot. Last season, they defeated Minnesota State to open up the regular season on Jan. 3, where the schedule was condensed due to the pandemic. This season, they will look to get back to .500 on the season when they look to defeat the Golden Eagles and earn a season split.