Minnesota Crookston Heads on the Road for Penultimate Weekend of Regular Season


#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will play their second weekend of February this coming weekend. This past weekend, the maroon and gold got a huge win over the Marauders of the University of Mary by five, then fell to Minot State on Saturday. This weekend, Minnesot Crookston will head on the road to Moorhead to take on MSU Moorhead and Aberdeen to take on Northern State. It's a giant weekend for the Golden Eagles, who will look to keep pace with the sixth seed in the NSIC North. Any win goes a long way for the maroon and gold in the final two weekends.

• GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, E. Ethan Channel missed the weekend against Wayne State and Augustana and has missed some games this season due to injury. He was back in the lineup and boy was he a welcome sight for Golden Eagle fans. Channel was exceptional in the win over UMary on 7-12 shooting from the field, while also pulling down a season-high five rebounds. Channel then followed that up with a 22-point, five rebound performance on 4-6 shooting from the field. Channel was exceptional for the Golden Eagles, who were without Leonard Dixon. If the Golden Eagles are at full strength and Channel is playing like he did this past weekend, the Golden Eagles will be a tough out.

• THEY CAN'T WIN IF THEY DON'T SCORE. The Golden Eagles defense in the final eight minutes of the win over the Marauders were a big reason as to why they were able to finish off the scrappy UMary bunch. The Golden Eagles led 57-56 after a pair of Jacob Jackson free throws with 8:55 remaining in the game. From that point on, the Golden Eagles went on a 6-0 run and held UMary to just nine points in the final nine minutes of the game. It was a huge stretch in a huge game for the Golden Eagles and they were able to do it on the defensive side of the ball.

• WE NEEDED THAT PERFORMANCE. Another person who was important in that win over the Marauders was redshirt sophomore Uzo Dibiamaka. The lefty point guard finished with 19 points on 6-9 shooting from the field, 4-6 from deep and 3-3 from the charity stripe, including two huge free throws down the stretch. Dibiamaka also collected three rebounds and two assists. When Dibiamaka scores more than 10 points, the Golden Eagles are 8-6 on the season. Dibiamaka is a huge part of what the Golden Eagles want to do offensively.

• MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOKS.  With his two starts he made this past weekend, redshirt senior Brian Sitzmann entrenched his name in the record books at Minnesota Crookston. Sitzmann has now started in 77 career games as a Golden Eagle, which puts him at number four all-time in school history, behind Joe Hasz's 90 career starts. Sitzmann is also one three ball away from 100 career 3-point makes in his career, which would make him just the sixth Golden Eagle to achieve that clip. With 27 more makes from deep, the Prior Lake, Minn., native would move into the top four all-time in makes from long distance. It's been a decorated career as a Golden Eagle for the fifth-year senior.
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• YOU CAN CALL HIM J-ROCK.  Ever since being inserted into the lineup four games ago against Wayne State College, Jerome Mabry has raised his play. The Golden Eagles are 2-2 in that stretch and Mabry is averaging 7.0 points per game on 11-27 shooting from the field, while also pulling down seven rebounds against UMary on Friday, a career-high. Mabry is another athletic wing that Head Coach Dan Weisse can go down the stretch.

• BIG ONE WITH THE DRAGONS.  The last time the Golden Eagles visited Nemzek Hall, it was magic for the Golden Eagles. Ibu Jassey Demba hit the last buzzer beater that the Golden Eagles had, coming back in Dec., of 2019, a three-point victory over the Dragons. That came in 2019 and this will be the first time the Golden Eagles will make the trip south to Moorhead to take on the Dragons. This is a big one in the NSIC North and Minnesota Crookston will look for some more Moorhead Magic this Friday. The Golden Eagles have gone 3-1 on Friday games since ringing in the new year.

• GIANT OPPORTUNITY. With two weekends left in NSIC North, it's crunch time for teams around the NSIC, including the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston is still in striking distance of grabbing one of the last spots in the NSIC North. Only the top six teams in each division will make the NSIC Tournament, so if the Golden Eagles are able to have a successful weekend, they will then play St. Cloud State next Thursday in a huge game, as the Huskies sit right above Minnesota Crookston in the North standings. First things first, however, the Golden Eagles need to focus on the Dragons and Wolves.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Dan Weisse
Record at UMC: 66-133 Season at UMC: 8th Season


Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons
Head Coach: Chad Walthall
Record at MSUM: 231-119 Season at MSUM: 12th Season


Northern State Wolves
Head Coach: Saul Phillips
Record at NSU: 59-19 Season at NSU: Third Season


NSIC Rankings

Scoring Offense: 16th
Scoring Defense: 7th
Scoring Margin: 14th
Free Throw Pct.: 16th
Field Goal Pct.: 15th
Field Goal Pct. Defense: 3rd
3-Point Field Goal Pct.: 11th
3-Point Field Goal Pct. Defense: 10th
Rebounding Margin: 12th
Blocked Shots: 6th
Assists: 14th
Steals: 15th
Turnover Margin: 13th
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 16th
Offensive Rebounds: 6th
Defensive Rebounds: 7th


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

Minnesota State University Moorhead. The Dragons will be looking for a season sweep of the Golden Eagles this season, after defeating Minnesota Crookston by 15 earlier this season. Currently, MSUM is fifth in the NSIC North, but could move up to as high as second in the final four games. MSUM is coming off of a split, falling to Minnesota Duluth and defeating St. Cloud State by two on the road.

ZO ON THE GO. Preseason NSIC North Player of the Year Lorenzo McGhee has taken a little while to get in the groove of things offensively, but I think it's safe to say that he is safely in the zone right now. McGhee has scored in double-figures in the Dragons last seven games and is averaging 17 points per game during that stretch, including a season-high of 28, just three off of his career-high set at Nichols State. The last time these two programs met, McGhee finished with just eight points, but the Decatur, Geo., native is playing outstanding basketball two months later.

GAVIN'S GAME. A big reason the Dragons were able to hold off the Golden Eagles in December was the play of Gavin Baumgartner. The junior from Plymouth, Minn., was exceptional in Crookston, scoring 19 points, seven above his average, on 8-12 shooting and pulling down seven rebounds. That game against the Golden Eagles was the second in a stretch of 10 straight games in double-figures. That stretch ended last Saturday against the Huskies, when he scored just three points on 1-13 from the field.

SPREAD THE WEALTH. One of the main reasons the Dragons were pitted to be one of the best in the NSIC was their depth. That depth has shown its worth this season. MSUM currently has eight players that average over five points per game, led by Baumgartner and McGhee, who each average just under 13 a game. Chad Walthall has also started 10 different players this season, indicating that he also likes the depth that the Dragons have this season.

Northern State. The Wolves are back at home this weekend and will take on a Golden Eagles team, whom they have never lost to in Aberdeen and inside Wachs Arena. NSU has won the last 17 games in the series, with the closest margin of victory for the Wolves being two, coming in January of 2019. NSU is in second place in the NSIC and looks poised to make the conference tournament.

PUT THROUGH THE RINGER. Northern State is coming off of a split this past weekend, defeating SCSU by five and falling to nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth. This season, the Wolves have had a ton of challenges on their schedule. NSU has played seven games this season against nationally-ranked or teams that are receiving votes in the national polls and are 1-6 in those games. The lone win the Wolves have this season over a top-25 team was Upper Iowa inside Wachs Arena. The tough schedule should set up the Wolves nicely for the postseason.

REEDE THE BOOK. If Augustin Reede is open from deep, there is a great chance that the ball is gonna go up and there is an even better chance of that ball going in. Reede currently sits atop the NSIC in 3-point percentage at just over 43 percent and is third in makes per game with his 2.6 per game clip. The hometown kid has a make from deep in every game this season, including a pair of six three-point makes against St. Cloud State and UMary, both of which were wins. Reede is a flamethrower and will be a tough guard this weekend for the Golden Eagles.

RIGHT ON THE MONI. Freshman Jacksen Moni looks to be another unreal find for Head Coach Saul Phillips and company. The Fargo native is third on the Wolves in scoring at 14.2 per game and second in rebounding at 5.5 per game. The 6-10 Moni has had eight games with 20 or more points this season, including a career-high 27 in a win over Presentation College. Moni has been a huge part of the success the Wolves have had this season and looks to be a star in Aberdeen in the years to come.