Minnesota Crookston Men Continue Homestand as Cougars, Mustangs Invade Lysaker Gymnasium


#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will be back at home to wrap-up their second straight weekend on the home floor as they host the University of Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. In their win against Winona State last Friday night, the Golden Eagles were outstanding defensively and that propelled the maroon and gold to end their five game losing streak to the Warriors. The Golden Eagles have been one of the better defensive teams in the entire conference and they will look to carry that into this weekend against the Cougars and Mustangs.

·   IT'S ME, MARIO. Injuries have meant that the Golden Eagles have had to play some younger guys on the roster and throw them into the fire in a conference that has three teams currently ranked in the top-25. Earlier this season it was freshman Myles Adams who was making an impact and scored a career-high 13 points earlier this year against Minot State. Recently, it's been Myles' twin brother, Mario, who has been making an impact off the bench. This past weekend, the namesake of the beloved video game character averaged 18 minutes off the bench and poured in 5.5 points per game, including a career-high six points in the win against Winona State and made huge plays on the defensive end down the stretch in clutch minutes. The minutes being played by some younger guys should only help the Golden Eagles down the stretch.

• FIRST FOR FUCHS. Peter Fuchs, Jr., has played outstanding off the bench for a majority of this season and his good play as one of the first players off the bench earned him his first career start this past weekend. The redshirt freshman from Wausau, Wis., earned his first start against Winona State and played a career best 31 minutes and scored seven points. The next night against No. 1 Minnesota State, he also scored seven points in 28 minutes. Fuchs, Jr., was good in his first career starts and could see his name in the first five again this weekend.

·  NO PLACE LIKE HOME. There is no one more excited to be back at home for the second straight weekend than junior Blaize Sagna. That's obviously a guess, but it's a solid, educated guess. When the Golden Eagles play at home, the hoop must look like an ocean to the conference's leading scorer. Sagna is averaging over 22 points per game on the season, but sees his average go up by a touchdown when he plays at Lysaker Gymnasium to 29.5 points per game. Last Friday against Winona State, he tied a career-high with 36 points and was 5-7 from three and 9-12 from the charity stripe. Sagna averaged 26.5 points per game in two games last weekend and had a stretch earlier this year and scored 30 points in three straight games at home. Golden Eagle fans could see another big weekend from number one against Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.

·   THE DAGGER FROM J-MITCH.  It's tough to put into words the play that Jordan Mitchell made down the stretch last weekend against Winona State to ice the game and get his team their fifth victory of the season. With the Golden Eagles up by four with less than 30 seconds to go, Mitchell blocked a straightaway three and then when coast-to-coast, got intentionally fouled and flipped the ball behind his head and kissed it off the glass for two. Mitchell would then bury a pair of free throws to seal the win for the Golden Eagles. The finish was great, but the play all started with the block and it's a stretch that will be remembered for a long time

·    MR. BIG SHOT. When the Golden Eagles need a bucket, there is a decent chance that they trust Reid Grant to have the ball in his hands. The Golden Eagles win against the Warriors was contingent on their defense, but it also took some good offensive possessions and big shots from the Golden Eagles to defeat Winona State and it's no surprise that Grant was the epicenter of those possessions. Grant played all 40 minutes, the third time in five games he has done that and was 4-6 from deep and 5-10 from the field. Grant helped put the game on ice with a huge three to give the Golden Eagles a 70-64 lead over the Warriors late in the game. Grant finished with 15 points in the win, the 13th time in 16 games that he has scored in double-figures.

·   MUSTANGS COME MARCHING BACK. Minnesota Crookston will welcome back Southwest Minnesota State to Crookston this weekend for the second straight year. Last year, the Golden Eagles knocked off SMSU for a thrilling win in NSIC play and the Golden Eagles outscored SMSU by 16 after being down by eight at halftime. It was a fun night in Crookston last year and the Golden Eagles will look for some deja vu when the Mustangs come back to town this Saturday.

• BARRAGE FROM LONG RANGE. This might be an obvious statement, but the Golden Eagles are very successful when they shoot the three well. In their win against Winona State, the maroon and gold shot 10-18 from the field and hit one more three than the Warriors. In the Golden Eagles five wins this season, they have outshot their opponents from long range in four of those wins. The only win they had when they hit less three's than their opponent was against Parkside, who made 10 compared to eight for the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston will look to win that battle this weekend.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 7-37 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (Second as Head Coach)

Sioux Falls Cougars
Head Coach: Chris Johnson
Record at USF: 270-173  Season at USF: 16th Season


Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs
Head Coach: Brad Bigler
Record at SMSU: 230-185  Season at SMSU: 15th Season


Sioux Falls @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Friday, Jan 19
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Gary Senske Court at Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: USF leads 9-3
Last Meeting: 98-74 win for USF last year in Crookston
Officials: Kelly Anlauf, Christopher Janisch and Jake Studer


Southwest Minnesota State @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Saturday, Jan 20
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Record: SMSU leads all-time series 30-3
Last Meeting: 71-63 win for Golden Eagles last year in Crookston
Officials: Chad Bjornson, Reid Flaagan and Mike Gullingsrud


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles (5-11)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 3 Reid Grant (6-3, Johnston, Iowa) 14.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 3.8 APG
Jr. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 22.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG
R-Jr. F 13 Aguek Deng (6-9, Des Moines, Iowa) 6.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.8 BPG
R-Fr. G 12 Peter Fuchs, Jr. (6-4, Wausau, Wis.) 6.2 PPG, 1.5 RPG
R-Jr. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 5.6 PPG, 6.1 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Sr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 4.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG
Jr. F 33 Ben Hoverson (6-6, Grand Forks, N.D.) 5.8 PPG, 1.8 RPG
Fr. G 11 Myles Adams (6-6, Rosemount, Minn.) 2.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Fr. G 24 Mario Adams (6-6, Rosemount, Minn.) 2.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Sioux Falls Cougars (8-9)
Projected Starters
R-Jr. G 1 Jack Cartwright (6-3, Sioux Falls, S.D.) 3.8 PPG, .9 RPG
Sr. G 2 Jack Thompson (6-2, Eagan, Minn.) 14.9 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.2 APG
R-Jr. G/F 4 Noah Puetz (6-6, Marshall, Minn.) 9.3 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Jr. C 23 Creighton Morisch (6-10, Spirit Lake, Iowa) 7.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG
Jr. G 32 Josh Baker (6-2, Marshall, Minn.) 1.5 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. G 3 Shawn Warrior (6-4, Wichita, Kan.) 11.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG
So. G 5 Kenji Scales (6-2, Richfield, Minn.) 8.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Sr. G/F 12 Jake Kettner (6-4, New Ulm, Minn.) 6.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG
R-So. F 15 Zane Alm (6-10, Mitchell, Minn.) 4.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG
R-Fr. G 22 Kyle Ingwerson (6-6, Omaha, Neb.) 6.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs (9-8)
Projected Starters
Sr. G 2 Cliff Cofield (6-2, Sioux City, Iowa) 13.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Jr. G 10 Dunwa Omot (6-3, Mankato, Minn.) 11.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Sr. G 11 Kyle Luedtke (6-5, Omaha, Neb.) 7.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG
So. G 13 Mason Lund (6-7, Rice, Minn.) 6.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG
Sr. C 42 Jake Phipps (6-9, Anoka, Minn.) 15.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. F 0 Aeron Stevens (6-7,  Plainview, Minn.) 11.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG
So. G 1 Jakob Braaten (6-0, Byron, Minn.) 5.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG
R-Fr. G 5 Mekhi Shaw (6-0, Eau Claire, Wis.) 5.0 PPG, 1.7 RPG


#HEADLINES


1. Back at home after going 1-1 last weekend

2. Huge defensive possessions down the stretch in win over Winona State

3. Blaize Sagna averaging over 30 points per game at home

4. Jordan Mitchell continues to play well

5. Looking for back-to-back wins against SMSU at home.


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls is one game below .500, but don't let their record fool you; This is a good team making their way into Crookston on Friday night. That good team was on display last Saturday night in Moorhead when they knocked off then-No. 1 MSU Moorhead by a bucket. It was arguably their largest win in program history and might have gotten them back on track in the NSIC. The Cougars will play just one game this weekend and that comes against Minnesota Crookston on Friday.

JACK ATTACKS THE RACK. The big reason USF was able to knock off MSU Moorhead from the ranks of the unbeaten was the play of senior guard Jack Thompson. Thompson scored a season-high 34 points on 12-27 shooting from the field and was 3-7 from deep, meaning Thompson was getting his points the hard way and getting inside the three-point line. In his last trip to Crookston, Thompson will hope that he has a performance the first time he played in Lysaker Gymnasium where he scored a then career-high of 23 points on 10-16 shooting from the field.

MOR(ISCH) OF THAT, CREIGHTON. In his first season wearing the purple, junior college transfer Creighton Morisch has shown to be dominant at times in the low post. In the win over MSU Moorhead, Morisch finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, just a rebound shy of his fourth double-double. Morisch has played in all 17 games and has started in 10 for USF.

WHO MAKES MORE SHOTS FROM DEEP? That question could decide who comes out on top this Friday night. The Cougars and Golden Eagles are top-eight in the conference in opponent three point percentage and the Cougars have allowed their opponents to make just 106 three's in 17 games. The Golden Eagles can make the three, but the Cougars can defend the three; something has to give on Friday night.

Southwest Minnesota State. Southwest Minnesota State is 9-8 on the season, but they have a massive win and almost another this season. The Mustangs knocked off Northwest Missouri State earlier this year, who at the time was the top team in the nation. This past Friday, the Mustangs almost had another victory over the No. 1 team in the nation, but fell by a point to MSU Moorhead on the road. The Mustangs are a good team coming to Crookston on Saturday afternoon.

BALANCED ATTACK. In that one point loss to MSU Moorhead, the Mustangs showed how good they are offensively by scoring 87 on one of the best defenses in the NSIC. SMSU had five scorers in double-digits, including Jakob Braaten and Aeron Stevens off the bench, who each played 31 minutes off the bench. The Mustangs are dangerous because of a 'pick your posion' type of offense.

LET 'ER FLY LUEDTKE. Kyle Luedtke is another one of the players in the conference that is a dynamic and fantastic shooter from deep. The senior from Omaha, Neb., and five year player at the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the Summit League is a grad transfer for the Mustangs and has taken 109 shots on the season, with 79 of those coming from long range.  That is almost 73 percent of Luedtke's shots coming from long range. He doesn't have a three in his last three games, but shooter's shoot and he will try to hunt for his shot on Saturday.

DO-IT-ALL. Jake Phipps has been a thorn in the side of every NSIC opponent for many years and that has been encapsulated this season. The senior from Anoka, Minn., leads the Mustangs in scoring with just under 16 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. Phipps has scored double-figures in all but three games this season and is shooting 31 percent from three, 90 percent from the free throw line and has added 21 blocks on the year.