#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will be back on the road once again this weekend as they head west to the great state of North Dakota for a pair of matches with the University of Mary and Minot State University. This will be games 13 and 14 on the road for Minnesota Crookston, as they look for their first win away from the friendly confines of Crookston this weekend. The Golden Eagles were outstanding defensively against Southwest Minnesota State, parachuting them to their first NSIC win of the season and sending shock waves throughout the Northern Sun.

·   DOMINANT SECOND HALF. Head Coach Bryan Beamish has asked his team to show some toughness this season, especially in second halves. In Saturday's win over the Mustangs, the Golden Eagles did that and then some. After getting outscored by seven in the first half, the Golden Eagles outscored SMSU by 16 points in the second half, the most for the maroon and gold this season. Minnesota Crookston made big plays down the stretch, including some huge stops down the stretch, pushing the Golden Eagles to the finish line for win No. 1 in the NSIC this season.

• LID ON THE RIM. Although they were dynamite on the offensive side of the ball on Saturday, the Golden Eagles were outstanding defensively. Minnesota Crookston held SMSU to four points below their season average of 67, something that didn't look possible when they allowed 44 points to the Mustangs in the first half. SMSU shot 7-28 from the field in the second half and that came after they made their first three shot attempts of the second half. SMSU scored just four points in the final 11:08 of the half on Saturday afternoon.

·     THE MAN WITH A PLAN IS CHAN. Chandler Meeks willed his Golden Eagles to their second win on Saturday. The freshman from Omaha, Neb., finished with a career-high 27 points on 9-15 shooting from the field, while also pulling down six rebounds, which tied a career best. Meeks also got to the free throw line a career-high nine times, burying seven of those attempts, tying a career-high. Meeks had a stretch in the first half where he scored 11 of the teams 14 points, keeping the game close heading into half. The dominance from Meeks was a sign of things to come for the young freshman from Nebraska.

·   GRIDDYING HIS WAY TO THE WIN.  When it was evident that the Golden Eagles would get the monkey off their back and win the game on Saturday, junior Xzavier Jones started 'Griddying' near half court; a celebration that indicates a win or something good happened. Turns out, that good thing that happened was helped by Jones. The Milwaukee native finished with 10 points, his sixth time in the last seven games finishing with 10 or more points. Jones was also instrumental on defense in the second half. When you play a game like Jones did on Saturday, he deserves 'Griddy' as much as he would like.

·    THE PEDRO PROFILE. Sophomore big man Pedro Rossi had his best weekend as a collegiate athlete against the Cougars and Mustangs. Against USF, the Argentinian finished with a career-high 19 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and a career-high five makes on a career-high six attempts from deep. The 6-8 center was outstanding again on Saturday, finishing with 10 points, including burying a big three to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game at 61-60, a lead they would never relinquish. This past weekend was the first time in Rossi's young career he has scored double-digit points in back-to-back games and it provided a nice glimpse into the future.

·   WE MEET AGAIN. The last time Blaize Sagna met the Marauders of UMary, he was outstanding. In fact, he had his second highest point total against the Marauders of his young career. The sophomore from London finished with 25 points on 8-20 shooting from the field, while pulling down four rebounds and dishing out four assists and going a perfect 7-7 from the field. It was an outstanding game for Sagna, who has scored double-figures in 14 out of his last 15 games.

• SENIOR LEADERSHIP. Ever since he stepped foot on campus last season, Rambo Badyal has been outstanding and has continued to get better each and every game. This past weekend, Badyal scored 17 points against USF, tying a career-high and was a perfect 4-4 from deep, also a career best. The next night, Badyal didn't score as much, but buried a huge three in the second half to help the Golden Eagles come back from as much as 14 down for the win. Badyal will look to finish his career on a high note as we enter the final month of the season.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 2-20 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (First as Head Coach)


University of Mary Marauders
Head Coach: Jack Nelson
Record at UMary: 22-25 Season at UMary: 2nd Season


Minot State University Beavers
Head Coach: Matt Murken
Record at MSU: 221-178 Season at MSU: 11th Season


Minnesota Crookston @ University of Mary
Date: Friday, Feb. 3
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Bismarck, N.D. / McDowell Activities Center
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goumary/
Live Stats: https://goumary.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Listen Live: https://foxsports710.iheart.com/
Series Record: 22-10 in favor of the Marauders
Last Meeting: 80-76 win for the Marauders in Crookston earlier this year
Officials: Perry Olson, Jordan Rheault and Ben Wolden


Minnesota Crookston @ Minot State
Date: Sat. Feb. 4
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: Minot, N.D. / Minot Dome
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/msubeavers/
Live Stats: https://msubeavers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 18-3 in favor of Minot State
Last Meeting: 77-57 loss to Minot State earlier this season in Crookston
Officials: David Drexler, Nate Meissner and Kaden Keuneman


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston (2-20, 1-15 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 4 Xzavier Jones (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.) 12.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG
So. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 15.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Fr. G 5 Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.) 8.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG
R-Jr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 4.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG
So. F 14 Pedro Rossi (6-8, Bahia Blanca, Argentina) 4.4 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. G/F 11 Matthew Allman (6-6, London, England) 6.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG
Sr. G 20 Rambo Badyal (6-3, Kelowna, British Columbia) 7.5 PPG, 1.6 RPG
R-So. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 3.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG
University of Mary (10-10, 6-10 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 1 Zyon Smith (6-4, Montgomery, Ala.) 11.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Fr. G 4 Jeremiah Jones (6-3, South Holand, Ill.) 6.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG
So. G 23 Treyton Mattern (6-2, Bismarck, N.D.) 11.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Sr. G 24 Kam Warrens (6-5, Antelope, Calif.) 13.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG
Sr. F 33 Lucas Mayer (6-7, Bismarck, N.D.) 8.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. F 32 Gertautus Urbanavicius (6-7, Vilnius, Lithuania) 9.9 PPG, 5.5 RPG
So. G 0 Deven Franks (5-11, Queen Creek, Ariz.) 2.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Jr. F 22 Veljko Radakovic (6-9, Novi Sad, Serbia) 2.5 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Fr. G 13 Gunner Swanson (6-5, Bismarck, N.D.) 3.4 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Minot State University (9-11, 6-10 NSIC)
Projected Starters
R-Sr. G 1 Cam'ron Dunfee (6-3, Castle Rock, Colo.) 11.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Jr. G 2 Khari Broadway (6-1, Brooklyn Center, Minn.) 13.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG
So. G 3 Ben Bohl (6-3, Minot, N.D.) 9.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG
So. F 23 Connor Hollenbeck (6-7, Rapid City, S.D.) 7.7 PPG, 6.2 RPG
Jr. G 11 Michael Jok (6-5, Melbourne, Australia) 5.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. G 24 Jaxon Gunville (6-0, Minot, N.D.) 11.4 PPG, 2.3 RPG
So. G 21 Jalen Cook (6-4, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 8.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG
Fr. F 50 Caleb Van De Griend (6-8, Bridgetown, Australia) 4.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG
So. G 10 Javeon Tolliver (6-0, Milwaukee, Wis.) 2.8 PPG, 1.9 RPG


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

UMary. This weekend, the Marauders will go for their first sweep of the Golden Eagles since the 2017-18 season. Since that point, the series has been pretty even, with the Golden Eagles holding a 5-4 lead in nine games played. The Marauders were able to knock off the Golden Eagles in late December in Crookston, behind 21 points from Treyton Mattern. Does this weekend have another high scoring game on tap in the capital city of North Dakota?

DID YOU SEE AN ANTELOPE ANYWHERE? Kam Warrens has led the Marauders this season, no doubt about that. The senior from Antelope, Calif., has been outstanding all year, leading his team with almost 14 points per game and six rebounds on the season, which also leads his team. Warrens has a double-double on the season, a dominant 21 point, 12 rebound performance against Bemidji State. The senior will look for a better performance against the Golden Eagles this time around, as he finished with just three points the last time these two teams met, his lowest point output all season.

CLIMB THE MATTERNHORN. One person who didn't struggle the last time these two teams met was hometown kid Treyton Matterm. The sophomore from Bismarck was outstanding against the Golden Eagles, finishing with a career-high 21 points on 6-11 shooting from the field. In that game, Mattern also finished with a career-high with seven free throw makes on 10 free throw attempts. Mattern has scored 20 points in back-to-back games against Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. What does the sophomore have for an encore against the Golden Eagles?

THREE POINT DIFFERENTIAL. One thing that will be worth watching this weekend will be from behind the arc. As a team, UMary shoots around 37 percent from deep, while holding their opponents to 33 percent. The Marauders are fifth in the conference in 3-point shooting and fourth in percentage. The last time these two teams met, UMary made just one more three than the Golden Eagles, but it made a large difference in the four point UMary win.

Minot State. Historically, Minot State has had the number of the Golden Eagles, especially in the friendly confines of the Minot Dome, where they have lost just once to the Golden Eagles. The Beavers have lost four games in a row, all to NSIC South opponents. The last time the Golden Eagles were in Crookston, it was a high scoring affair with the Beavers winning 88-83.

KHARI PLAYS ON BROADWAY.  Khari Broadway has been a really consistent player this season for the Beavers. Broadway had a stretch earlier this season of six straight games with double-digit points, including 15 against Minnesota Crookston earlier this year. Broadway has 14 games this season with more than 10 points, but he will look to get back on track this weekend after shooting just 7-25 from the field this past weekend against Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State.

THREE POINT BARRAGE.  Jaxon Gunville is one of the best shooters in the NSIC. The sophomore currently ranks sixth in the NSIC in 3-point shooting percentage and attempts, while he ranks eighth in makes from deep. A majority of Gunville's shots come from behind the arc. Of his 175 attempts from the field this season, a whopping 140 of those have come from deep, which if my Erskine math is correct, is 80 percent of his shot attempts are from behind the arc. The Minot native doesn't have a game this season with less than four attempts and has four games with more than 10 attempts from deep.

DOUBLE B.  Ben Bohl sat out the first month and change of the season for the Beavers, but he made his debut against the Golden Eagles and made an impact, finishing with 13 points on 5-9 shooting from the field. Since his debut, Bohl has four double-digit scoring games and will look to get the Beavers back on track this weekend.