Minnesota Crookston Men Open New Year with Trips to Wayne State, Augustana in NSIC Play


#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will kick off the New Year looking for a pair of wins on the road. Minnesota Crookston was one of a few teams in the NSIC to play following Christmas and before the New Year. The Golden Eagles fell on the road in non-conference play to Minot State. The Golden Eagles will now reenter Northern Sun play at Wayne State and Augustana, arguably their longest conference road trip of the season. The Golden Eagles picked up a huge victory at home against Northern State and will look to continue that strong play against the Wildcats and Vikings this upcoming weekend.

·   NO EASY LOOK FOR OPPONENTS. Minnesota Crookston has been outstanding defensively this season, especially forcing opponents into taking extremely tough looks. The Golden Eagles have held opponents to less than 30 percent from deep in five straight games, the longest stretch since 2014-15 when they did it four straight times in conference play. The Golden Eagles held NSU to 1-22 shooting from the field, something they also did last season against Winona State, allowing the Warriors to just one make from deep. Defense wins games and it proved to be the case yet again two weekends ago against Northern State.

• MAYOR OF MYLES CITY. What a game it was for the freshman from Rosemount, Minn., last weekend against the Beavers of Minot State. Myles Adams played in two previous games before Minot State and had not registered a point in 15 minutes against MSU Moorhead and Northern State. He scored and then some against the Beavers. Adams finished with a career-high 13 points on 5-8 shooting from the field and 2-3 from long range in 23 minutes, all of those categories also being a career-high. Adams has shown his exceptional athleticism and defensive prowess and more than likely forced his way into the rotation with his career performance against Minot State last weekend.

·  NEVER LEAVE THE FLOOR. Blaize Sagna might be one of the most indispensable players in the entire conference. Sagna is the Golden Eagles leading scorer, gets to the free throw line a ton and is asked to guard the opponents best perimeter player on most nights. With that being said, it is not a mystery that he leads the Golden Eagles and the NSIC in minutes played. He has played just one more minute this season than his backcourt partner Reid Grant, who is second in the NSIC and is as valuable to the Golden Eagles as well.

·   IQ FROM J-MITCH.  Jordan Mitchell is healthy and has made a huge impact this season for the Golden Eagles. Mitchell's impact has been especially felt the past three games in the absence of De'Antray Hughes. Mitchell is averaging 8.3 points per game in his last four games and 6.6 rebounds per game in his last six games. Mitchell has always been talented and is showing that this season. Mitchell played high school basketball at one of the best programs in the nation at Montverde Academy in Florida where he was teammates with 1st round picks in the NBA in Moses Moody (Golden State), Cade Cunningham (Detroit) and Precious Achiuwa (New York Knicks). Mitchell has brought his elite pedigree to the Golden Eagles this season

·    THREID. Speaking of impacts, Reid Grant has been unbelievably good for the maroon and gold. In fact, you could insert any adjective for the play of Grant this season and it might be selling the Johnston, Iowa native short. Grant is currently 14th in the NSIC in scoring at 15.3 points per game and scored 15 points on 5-9 shooting from deep in the loss to Minot State. Grant has just one game this season without a make from deep and has eight games with more than one make from three. Grant is 11th in the NSIC in three-point makes per game and has brought an added shooting element to the Golden Eagles this year.

·   AD. Aguek Deng is quickly making a name for himself as one of the best defenders in the Northern Sun. The junior from Des Moines uses his length and size to block a ton of shots. Deng leads the pack by a wide margin with 27 blocks (next highest has 17) and Deng also leads the NSIC in blocks per game with 2.3. Deng also uses his length to pull down rebounds, as he sits third in the NSIC with 8.8 rebounds per game and has five games with more than 10 rebounds and has two double-doubles on the season.

• HEADING BACK TO THE SCENE. This Saturday, Minnesota Crookston will head back to the place where they achieved their largest win in program history just five years ago. That 87-72 victory over Augustana sent the Golden Eagles to the Sanford Pentagon for the first time in program history and Minnesota Crookston tied a program best 18 three's in that game. Bryan Beamish was on the bench that game as an assistant and he hopes that the squad he has this year can find that magic in Sioux Falls, much like they did in February of 2019.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 6-34 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (Second as Head Coach)


Wayne State College Wildcats
Head Coach: Jeff Kaminsky
Record at WSC: 106-104  Season at WSC: 8th Season


Augustana Vikings
Head Coach: Tom Billeter
Record at AU: 371-219  Season at AU: 21st Season


Minnesota Crookston @ Wayne State College
Date: Friday, Jan 5
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Wayne, Neb. / Rice Auditorium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/wscwildcats/
Live Stats: https://wscwildcats.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: Wayne State leads 25-9
Last Meeting: 91-62 win for WSC in Wayne last year
Officials: Grant Jeffres, Kurt Spomer and Brady Lollman


Minnesota Crookston @ Augustana
Date: Saturday, Jan 6
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: Sioux Falls, S.D. / Elmen Center
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goaugie/
Live Stats: https://goaugie.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summarySeries
Listen live: https://player.amperwave.net/13575
Record: Augustana leads 19-3
Last Meeting: 80-62 win for Augustana in Sioux Falls last season
Officials: Andy Acosta, Justin Stottlemyre and Randy Hagedom


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles (4-8)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 3 Reid Grant (6-3, Johnston, Iowa) 15.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.1 APG
Jr. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 22.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG
R-Jr. F 13 Aguek Deng (6-9, Des Moines, Iowa) 7.8 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.3 BPG
R-Sr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 5.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG
Jr. F 33 Ben Hoverson (6-6, Grand Forks, N.D.) 5.8 PPG, 1.7 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 4.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG
R-Fr. G 12 Peter Fuchs, Jr. (6-4, Wausau, Wis.) 5.6 PPG, 1.3 RPG
Wayne State College Wildcats (8-6)
Projected Starters
R-So. G 1 Alec Millender (6-3, Chicago, Ill.) 10.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Jr. G 2 Sean Stokes (6-4, Bensalem, Penn.) 3.5 PPG, .7 RPG
Jr. F 7 Trey Deveaux (6-5, Lincoln, Neb.) 16.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG
Jr. G 12 Jay Saunders (5-11, Omaha, Neb.) 3.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Jr. F 35 Cody McCullough (6-8, Ankeny, Iowa) 9.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. F 0 Elijah Watson (6-7, Chicago City, Ill.) 6.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Fr. G 3 JJ Ferrin (6-3, Omaha, Neb.) 8.4 PPG, 1.2 RPG
So. G 10 David Harmon (6-4, Omaha, Neb.) 12.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Jr. F 25 Noah Erickson (6-8, Omaha, Neb.) 2.9 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Augustana Vikings (7-6)
Projected Starters
Sr. G 2 Jadan Graves (6-2, Syracuse, New York) 15.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Jr. G 3 Akoi Akoi (6-6, Sioux Falls, S.D.) 9.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG
Fr. G 5 Arhman Lewis (6-0, Madison, Wis.) 7.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG
Fr. F 11 Caden Kirkman (6-8, Wilton, Iowa) 4.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Gr. G 21 Isaac Fink (6-4, Springfield, Minn.) 18.7 PPG, 8.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 1 Brayson Laube (6-2, Marion, Iowa) 5.2 PPG, 1.3 RPG
So. F 10 Brady Helgren (6-9, Edina, Minn.) 6.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG
So. F 20 Caden Hinker (6-7, Mitchell, S.D.) 5.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG
Gr. G 22 Bennett Otto (6-4, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 1.8 PPG, 1.3 RPG


#HEADLINES


1. Back into NSIC action

2. Golden Eagles looking to continue NSIC winning ways

3. Golden Eagles haven't won in Wayne since 2014

4. Faster starts = wins?

5. Defense, defense and more defense


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Wayne State. After coming off of a third NSIC South title in the last five seasons under Jeff Kaminsky a season ago, Wayne State College got off to a fast start this season. The Wildcats opened up the year with a 7-0 record, but just four of those wins were over NCAA opponents. The Wildcats are 8-6 on the year, but have just four wins over NCAA opponents, with two of those being over campus' based in Puerto Rico. WSC halted a six-game losing streak on Dec. 30 with a 31 point victory over Buena Vista at home.

WIN BIG OR LOSE LARGE. Wayne State either wins large or they lose by a wide margin, there hasn't been much in-between. In the Wildcats eight wins this season, they have won by an average of 28 points, with their closest win being over Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, 64-57. When the Wildcats lose, it is by an average of 16.2 points per game. Granted, those numbers have been inflated by a pair of losses to Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth, but they have not been in a ton of close games. Something has to give this Friday night in Nebraska.

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS? This might be an obvious statement, but the Wildcats are pretty good when the three is falling. In last weekend's win over Buena Vista, WSC made a season-high 13 makes from deep on 52 percent shooting from three. That ended a streak of six-straight games with less than ten three's for the Wildcats. When the Wildcats have double-digit makes from deep as a team this season, they are 4-0. This Friday, they will play the fourth best defense in terms of allowing the three in Minnesota Crookston.

YOU GO DEVEAUX. This game could come down to transfers. Minnesota Crookston has a number of impact transfers, but Wayne State does as well. No transfer for Wayne State has made an impact quite like junior Trey Deveaux. Deveaux was an NJCAA First-Team All-American at Central Community College and has carried that over to the Wildcats. Deveaux leads the Wildcats with 16.0 points per game and is second in rebounding with 5.7 boards per game. The Lincoln, Neb., native has started in all 14 games and has eight straight games in double-figures.

Augustana. The Vikings are 7-6 this season and are 2-2 in their last four games and are coming off of a win over Briar Cliff last Saturday.  Augustana will host No. 2 MSU Moorhead before they welcome in the Golden Eagles on Saturday. The Vikings are one of the most prestigious Division II programs, being the last NSIC team to win a National Championship in 2015-16.

NO FUNK FOR FINK. Isaac Fink has seen a ton of collegiate basketball and has worn the Vikings colors for a long time. Fink has been at Augustana since the 2019-20 season and he is the most experienced player this season for Augustana. He has raised his points per game every single season and is having a special season this season, averaging over 18 points per game. He has a 42 point game against Concordia-St. Paul and a 30 point output against Wayne State earlier this year. The Vikings rely on Fink to score and he does it a lot.

DON'T DIG HIS GRAVE(S). Jadan Graves provides a really good backcourt with senior classmate Fink. The senior from Syracuse, New York is averaging over 14 points per game, which is second on the team and like Fink, provides a ton of experience to the Vikings. Graves is averaging 3.8 assists per game, which is seventh in the NSIC and has six games with five or more assists, the same amount of games as Reid Grant has for Minnesota Crookston. This game will feature two outstanding passers, who do have a tendency to turn the ball over. Which guard will protect the ball better this weekend might lead to a win for his squad.

YOUTH MOVEMENT. Being young as a team is an inevitability for most collegiate programs. The Vikings are facing a good amount of that youth this season. The Vikings currently have five freshmen on their roster, while four of them play important rotation minutes. The Vikings are currently 2-5 in the NSIC and they might be younger than a lot of opponents they play this season not named Jadan Graves and Isaac Fink.