#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will be back at home this weekend for the final home weekend of the season. Minnesota Crookston has a home game next Thursday against Minnesota Duluth to wrap-up the three game homestand and the home portion of 2022-23. Two really good opponents will make their way north this weekend. MSU Moorhead and Northern State are both vying for the NSIC North title and with two weekends to go, every weekend is important. Can the Golden Eagles play spoiler this weekend against a pair of nationally ranked teams?

·   THANKS RAMBO! This weekend, the Golden Eagles will honor their lone senior on Saturday afternoon: Rambo Badyal. Since coming onto campus last season, the Kelowna, British Columbia native is averaging 7.8 points per game on the season and leads his team in 3-point makes with 33. Badyal has been a consistent player off the bench, as he has eight games this season with double-digit scoring, including a pair of 17-point games in his last four games. Over his two year career, Badyal has raised his scoring average after averaging less than a point per game last season. Badyal will be a valuable piece that will be greatly missed in the future.

• SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. Blaize Sagna really loves to play the University of Mary. That is a good thing for the Golden Eagles, because Sagna is only a sophomore. In two games against the Marauders, Sagna has some eerily similar numbers. In the first game at home against the Marauders, the London native scored 25 points on 8-20 shooting from the field, 2-5 from deep, 7-7 at the charity stripe and four rebounds and four assists. This past weekend against UMary, Sagna finished with 25 points on 9-17 from the field, 3-5 from deep, 4-5 at the charity stripe, seven rebounds and another four assists. Groundhog Day? Nope, that's just Blaize Sagna doing Blaize Sagna things.

·  NO NIGHT OFF IN NSIC. The NSIC is one of the toughest conferences in all of Division II. Anyone can beat anybody and the Golden Eagles showed that the last time they were home, when they beat Southwest Minnesota State, who currently ranks third in the NSIC South and could still win the NSIC South if things go their way the last two weekends of the season. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will host a pair of ranked teams in No. 23 MSU Moorhead and No. 22/23 Northern State. The Dragons and Wolves will be the first ranked opponents at Gary Senske Court this season and the Golden Eagles would love nothing more than to pull off an upset over two very good, experienced basketball teams.

·   REPEAT PERFORMANCE?  The last time the Dragons and Golden Eagles met, junior Xzavier Jones had an outstanding game. The Milwaukee, Wis., native finished with 18 points, one of his 16 double-digit scoring games this season, on 7-13 shooting from the field, while also pulling down six rebounds and dishing out three assists. That game against the Dragons was the third in the stretch of six or more makes from the field for Jones, who will look to have that same success against MSUM, this time at home.

·    IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS. In their second overtime loss of the season, the Golden Eagles could look to some of the little things that turned out to be big in the grand scheme of things against UMary. Although the Golden Eagles made one more shot from the field than the Marauders, UMary was 11-30 from deep, as opposed to the Golden Eagles, who were 8-28 from long range. UMary also shot 12 more free throws and outrebounded the Golden Eagles by 15. The Golden Eagles played well and had an outstanding chance to win, including at the end of regulation, but it was the little things that proved huge in the win for the Marauders.

·   ALUMNI WEEKEND. Alumni Weekend has become a staple across a number of campuses throughout the nation, including Minnesota Crookston. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will host their Alumni Weekend against the Dragons and Wolves and expect a number of players back that helped shape the program. Some alumni expected to be back this weekend include: Chase Knickerbocker, Darin Viken, Chase Johnson, Josh Collins, among others. All of those players helped the Golden Eagles reach the NSIC quarterfinals for the first time in school history and they will be back this weekend to watch their former assistant coach, Bryan Beamish, close out his first season at the helm of the Golden Eagles.

• SEND IT IN TO THE CROWD. Minnesota Crookston is one of the best teams in the NSIC when it comes to blocking shots. The Golden Eagles currently rank fifth in the conference with 73 blocks as a team and almost four per game as a team. The Golden Eagles have three shot blockers with 15 blocks: Jones, Pedro Rossi and De'Antray Hughes. Chandler Meeks has ten blocks on the season for a six foot one guard. With all those players scheduled to be back next season, the Golden Eagles could be even better in that department next season.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 2-22 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (First as Head Coach)


MSU Moorhead Dragons
Head Coach: Tim Bergstraser
Record at MSUM: 19-5 Season at MSUM: 1st Season (4th Overall)


Northern State Wolves
Head Coach: Saul Phillips
Record at NSU: 85-25 Season at NSU: 4th Season


No. 23 MSU Moorhead @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Friday, Feb. 10
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Gary Senske Court
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 34-11 in favor of MSUM
Last Meeting: 101-72 win for MSUM in Moorhead
Officials: John Yorkovich, Brayden Schildberger and Jeff Mosca


No. 22/23 Northern State @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Sat. Feb. 11
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Gary Senske Court
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 43-2 in favor of Northern State
Last Meeting: 81-62 loss for the Golden Eagles in Aberdeen
Officials: Paul Raj, Brad Emanuel and Brayden Schildberger


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston (2-22, 1-17 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 4 Xzavier Jones (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.) 12.6 PPG, 5.2 RPG
So. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 15.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Fr. G 5 Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.) 8.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG
R-Jr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 4.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG
So. F 14 Pedro Rossi (6-8, Bahia Blanca, Argentina) 4.2 PPG, 3.3 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
MSU Moorhead (19-5, 14-4 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Sr. G 1 Lorenzo McGhee (6-5, Decatur, Ga.) 15.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG
So. G 4 Jacob Beeninga (6-0, Maple Grove, Minn.) 17.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Sr. F 0 Jaden Stanley-Williams (6-7, Rocky Boy, Mont.) 9.3 PPG, 3.6 RPG
Sr. G 12 Gavin Baumgartner (6-4, Plymouth, Minn.) 13.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Jr. F 24 Dane Zimmer (6-7, Hopkins, Minn.) 8.0 PPG, 8.1 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 5 Trever Kaiser (6-2, Dassel, Minn.) 7.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Fr. F 11 Logan Kinsey (6-6, Blaine, Minn.) 5.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG
So. G 22 Gabe Myren (6-3, Blaine, Minn.) 7.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Northern State (19-5, 15-3 NSIC)
Projected Starters
Sr. G 5 Sam Masten (6-3, Highlands Ranch, Colo.) 18.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 6.6 APG
R-Sr. F 23 Jordan Belka (6-7, Rogers, Minn.) 13.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG
Sr. G 11 Augustin Reede (6-2, Aberdeen, S.D.) 11.9 PPG, 2.2 RPG
So. F 21 Jackson Mone (6-10, Fargo, N.D.) 15.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG
So. G 12 Josh Dilling (6-4, Oshkosh, Wis.) 9.7 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. F 3 Andrew Bergan (6-8, Aberdeen, S.D.) 1.4 PPG, 1.2 RPG
Fr. F 0 Michael Nhial (6-7, Fargo, N.D.) 5.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG
So. G 10 Trey Longstreet (6-7, Waverly, Minn.) 3.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Jr. G/F 24 Kobe Busch (6-5, Huron, S.D.) 2.9 PPG, 2.0 RPG


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

MSU Moorhead. What a year it has been for the Dragons. MSUM has a bevvy of experience on their roster including Gavin Baumgartner and Lorenzo McGhee. The Dragons have relied on that experience to race out to a 19-5 record on the season and one game behind the Northern State Wolves in the NSIC North. This is a big weekend for the Dragons, who are playing for conference and national seeding as we get closer to March.

GET BACK ON TRACK. Although there have been a number of Beeninga's who have donned the Dragons jersey throughout the years, sophomore guard Jacob Beeninga is plowing his own way to stardom. The sophomore leads his team in scoring and is lights out from deep, with 69 3-point makes on the season. Beeninga struggled to score last weekend and struggled from deep, going 4-20 from long range against Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud Sate. Beeninga will look to get back on the right path shooting the ball this weekend against Minnesota Crookston

CONSISTENT STARTING FIVE. One thing that makes the Dragons so good has been their ability to keep their rotation the same. This season, in 24 games, MSUM has started the same starting five in a whopping 23 of those. The only time they haven't started the way of Jacob Beeninga, Lorenzo McGhee, Gavin Baumgartner, Jaden Stanley-Williams and Dane Zimmer was when Baumgartner had to miss a game earlier this season. It's one of the best starting fives in the entire league.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. For all the talk about how good their offense is and rightfully so; the Dragons score almost 80 points per game, their defense is just as good as their offense. The Dragons are currently second in the NSIC in points given up per game at just under 69. How far MSUM goes in March will largely be as far as their defense will take them.

Northern State. After winning six games in a row, the Wolves are firmly in the drivers seat for the NSIC North title and a bye in the NSIC Playoffs. NSU has won their last six games, half of which have come by double-figures. Coincidentally, their last loss was on the road at Southwest Minnesota State, who the Golden Eagles beat two weekends ago.

LEADER OF THE PACK. If Sam Masten doesn't win NSIC Player of the Year this season, it would be tough on the senior from Highlands Ranch, Colo. Masten has scored in double-figures in every game this season and is the only player in the conference to have a triple-double, which he achieved in a win over St. Cloud State. Masten also leads the conference in total assists. The last time these two teams met, Masten was outstanding, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

DILLI, DILLI! Golden Eagle fans will see a familiar face make his way to Crookston this weekend. Wolves sophomore Josh Dilling, who spent a year at Minnesota Crookston, is now at Northern State and is making quite the impact. The Oshkosh, Wis., native is fifth on the Wolves in scoring at 9.6 points per game, but has been outstanding passing the ball. Dilling is averaging 7.0 assists per game in his last three games and he will look to continue that this weekend in the place he used to call home.

JACKSEN FIVE. The last time these two teams met in Wachs Arena, it was the Jacksen Moni show. The sophomore from Fargo, N.D., was outstanding, finishing with 23 points and seven rebounds, as well as four blocks. In three games against the Golden Eagles, Moni has scored double-figures in every game and is averaging 17 points per game. The Golden Eagles will look to slow down Moni this Saturday.