Minnesota Crookston Men's Basketball Heads to St. Cloud State, Bemidji State to Continue NSIC Play


#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will kick off their away portion of the daunted NSIC schedule this weekend on the road at St. Cloud State and Bemidji State. The Golden Eagles already have two true road wins, already more than the last two years combined. Minnesota Crookston is on pace to catapult the 2019-20 team that won six road games. It won't be easy for the Golden Eagles this weekend in environments that have not been kind to them in the past. The Golden Eagles are 0-18 all time in Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud and have just one win (2017) at Bemidji State.

·   DEFENSE LEADS TO WINS ON ROAD. The Golden Eagles have been a much improved defensive team this season and the numbers show it. In their two road wins, the Golden Eagles have been fantastic, holding Oklahoma Baptist and Parkside, a 2022-23 NCAA tournament team to under 70 points. In the win over the Bison in Oklahoma, Minnesota Crookston didn't allow a single field goal the last five minutes of the game. If the Golden Eagles want to continue their road success, it will be because they continue to get stops when they need them.

• IRON MEN. It's been six games and one thing is clear of the maroon and gold this season: they will rely on their backcourt to be very productive. Juniors Reid Grant and Blaize Sagna might be two of the more important players to their team in the entire NSIC. Grant and Sagna lead the Golden Eagles in a number of offensive categories. They are also number one and two, respectively, in the NSIC in minutes per game, each averaging over 36 minutes per game. On a side note, Grant is third in the NSIC in three-point shooting.

·  HOLY DENG, CAN HE REBOUND. What an addition Aguek Deng has been to the maroon and gold this season. The junior from Des Moines, Iowa already has two double-doubles this season in back-to-back games against Davenport and Parkside. Deng already has four double-digit rebounding performances this season and his lowest total in a game is eight rebounds his last time out against Minot State. After allowing 19 offensive boards against the Beavers, it is crucial that the Golden Eagles get back to their solid rebounding ways and Deng will be a key part of that.

·   TICKLE THE TWINE.  Another improvement with the Golden Eagles has been their ability to put the ball in the basket. Currently, the Golden Eagles are shooting exactly 47 percent from the field, which would be one of the best clips in program history and that clip ranks seventh in the NSIC, so just better than half in the conference. Minnesota Crookston is currently shooting at a better clip than the 2018-19 team, which featured guys like Harrison Cleary, Chase Knickerbocker and Malcolm Cohen and made the only NSIC Tournament in school history. That seems like a good omen, right?

·    CLOSE OUT THE OPPONENTS. Something the Golden Eagles will look to do this weekend is play a full 40 minutes and close out the game down the stretch. Although the Golden Eagles don't have a win in St. Cloud and just one win in Bemidji, it's not like there hasn't been any close calls. In fact, there have been a handful of them. The Golden Eagles lost by five to the Huskies on the road just two years ago and have had losses in Bemidji of 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 9 in the last eight years in Bemidji. The Golden Eagles will look to be on the flip side of those scores and come away with some huge wins this weekend.

·   LID ON THE RIM FOR THE OPPONENTS. Minnesota Crookston has done a fantastic job this season of limiting the three ball this season. As a team, the Golden Eagles are shooting 39 percent from deep and are allowing their opponents to shoot just 34 percent from deep. The Golden Eagles do a good job limiting attempts from deep and they have held opponents to shoot less than 40 percent in four games this season. Last season, the Golden Eagles had opponents shooting at a 38 percent clip. The almost four percent shooting dip by opponents has been a huge reason as to why the Golden Eagles have been good defensively and are currently at .500.

• CONSISTENT STARTING FIVE. Sure, the season may be young, but having the same starting five throughout the year is going to always be a good thing for teams. This season, the Golden Eagles have had the same starting five through six games. The starting five of Reid Grant, Blaize Sagna, Ben Hoverson, Aguek Deng and De'Antray Hughes have accounted for almost 80 percent of the team's offense this season. If the Wolves continue to get outstanding play from their starting five, they should be a threat in the NSIC as the year goes along.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 5-29 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (Second as Head Coach)


St. Cloud State Huskies
Head Coach: Quincy Henderson
Record at SCSU: 13-19 Season at SCSU: 2nd Season


Bemidji State Beavers
Head Coach: Mike Boschee
Record at BSU: 138-160 Season at BSU: 12th Season


Minnesota Crookston @ St. Cloud State
Date: Friday, Dec. 1
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Halenbeck Hall / St. Cloud, Minn.
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/scsuhuskies/
Live Stats: https://scsuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: SCSU leads the all-time series 32-4
Last Meeting: 90-64 win for the Huskies in St. Cloud last season
Officials: Isaiah Conrad, Nate Moeller, Duncan Faris


Minnesota Crookston @ Bemidji State
Date: Saturday, Dec. 2
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: Bemidji, Minn. / BSU Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/bsubeavers/
Live Stats: https://bsubeavers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Listen Live: https://beaverradionetwork.com/
Series Record: BSU leads 36-12 all-time
Last Meeting: 86-75 win for BSU in Crookston
Officials: Nate Meissner, Jordan Rheault and Travis Gardner\


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston (3-3)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 3 Reid Grant (6-3, Johnston, Iowa) 16.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Jr. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 21.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG
R-Jr. F 13 Aguek Deng (6-9, Des Moines, Iowa) 8.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG
R-Sr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 6.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG
Jr. F 33 Ben Hoverson (6-6, Grand Forks, N.D.) 8.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-So. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 2.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG
R-Fr. G 12 Peter Fuchs, Jr. (6-4, Wausau, Wis.) 5.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG
St. Cloud State (3-1)
Projected Starters
Fr. G 1 Anish Ramlall (6-2, Rosemount, Minn.) 13.8 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Sr. G 4 Joe Mutimer (5-11, Melbourne, Australia) 6.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Fr. G 20 Vance Peiffer (6-7, Waukee, Iowa) 5.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Sr. F 22 Matt Willert (6-6, Buffalo, Minn.) 4.3 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Gr. F 32 Luke Taylor (6-6,  Germantown, Wis.) 10.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 3 Jamiir Allen (5-11, Milwaukee, Wis.) 5.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Fr. G 10 Nate Dahl (5-11, Buffalo, Minn.) 2.3 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Fr. G 34 Lucas Morgan (6-4, Sydney, Australia) 12.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG
Fr. F 42 Wyatt Hawks (6-7, White Bear Lake, Minn.) 4.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Bemidji State (4-2)
Projected Starters
Sr. F 0 Dalton Albrecht (6-7, Grafton, N.D.) 17.3 PPG, 12.0 RPG
So. G 4 Brayden Williams (6-2, Owatonna, Minn.) 7.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Jr. G 14 Colin Schaefer (6-0, Sun Prairie, Wis.) 9.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG
So. G 21 Johnny Tennyson (6-3, St. Michael, Minn.) 7.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Jr. F 23 John Sutherland (6-7, Grand Rapids, Minn.) 21.0 PPG, 8.2 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. G 24 Daxten Dayley (6-5, St. George, Utah) 5.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG
So. G 2 Tate Olson (6-5, New York Mills, Minn.) 4.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

St. Cloud State. The Huskies will open up NSIC play against Minnesota Crookston and Minot State at home this weekend. The Huskies will have some home cooking this weekend against a pair of programs who have not fared well in St. Cloud. The Golden Eagles and Beavers have combined for just one win in St. Cloud since 2013. Can SCSU continue their home dominance this weekend against Minnesota Crookston and Minot State?

ALL IN THE FAMILY. The Huskies are a young team. SCSU has a whopping 10 freshmen and sophomores on this year's roster and are 3-1. That's a pretty solid start. One of the leaders of that young core has been Anish Ramlall. The first-year Husky from Rosemount, Minn., has been exceptional, leading his team in scoring at almost 14 points per game and he leads the Huskies with almost 30 minutes played per night. The Huskies will look to Ramlall to continue his success in his first taste of NSIC basketball.

THE LAND DOWN UNDER. Lucas Morgan has traveled a long, long way to play his collegiate basketball. So far through four games, it has paid off. The freshman from Sydney, Australia is one of three scorers averaging double-figures for the Huskies and he also leads the red and black in rebounds. Morgan and Ramlall are two dynamic freshmen that might take their team to where they want to go.

WHEN THERE IS A WILL(ERT), THERE'S A WAY. There is something about Minnesota Crookston that turns Matthew Willert into a star. Willert has played the Golden Eagles five times in his career and does have two games against the maroon and gold with a five and a four point output. However, in the other three games, he has scored 23, 18 and 18 and has missed one free throw in 16 attempts in those three high scoring games and has 10 makes from deep against the Golden Eagles. He is off to a slow start as a senior, averaging just 4.3 points per game in three starts, but maybe a game against the Golden Eagles is exactly what the doctor ordered as a prescription.

Bemidji State. The Beavers might be in for a special season. BSU is 4-2 on the year but has a pair of close losses to Missouri Southern and Eckerd. The Beavers can score as well, already with a pair of 100 point games, both wins, against Northland and Oak Hills Christian College. It will be a challenge defensively this Saturday against the Beavers.

WRITING IS JOHN THE WALL. The writing is on the wall for opponents that John Sutherland is going to have a monster game. The junior from Grand Rapids, Minn., has turned into a star and one of the best players in the Northern Sun. Sutherland has more than 10 points in every game and has scored more than 20 in three of those. Sutherland doesn't have a double-double yet this year, but does have back-to-back games with five assist games.

EVERYTHING WILL BE ALBRECHT. Dalton Albrecht may be the Robin to John Sutherland, but holy cow, he is one heck of an awesome sidekick. Albrecht, much like Sutherland, has scored in double-figures this season and was efficient, scoring 20 points in 20 minutes against Oak Hills Christian. Albrecht is lights out from deep, connecting on 41 percent of his shots from deep.

DIFFERENT WAYS TO BEAT YOU. Nowadays, teams always try to beat you by outscoring their opponents and hitting shots from deep. In a sense, that is where the Beavers are different. BSU is not a great shooting team from deep, under 30 percent from deep, but they shoot 47 percent from every other spot on the floor, led by Sutherland. The Beavers do have three games with more than ten makes from deep as a team, but they have shot just 35 percent from deep as a team just once.