#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball is back at home this weekend for the final time this season. The Golden Eagles will finally play a traditional Friday-Saturday weekend for the first time in more than two weeks. The final two weekends of the season will be games against four opponents the Golden Eagles have seen this year, starting this weekend against Augustana and Wayne State College. This will be the first time playing the Vikings and Wildcats twice in a season in a long time.

·   IMPORTANCE OF THREE. Reid Grant might be one of the most indispensible pieces to a team in the NSIC. Grant leads the league in minutes played and will more than likely lead the league in that category by season's end. The junior from Johnston, Iowa has played all 40 minutes six different times this season, including earlier this year against Wayne State, when he played all 40 minutes, scoring 16 points on 50 percent from the field and dished out six assists, two shy of his season and career high. Grant will look for that same success this Saturday against WSC at home.

• WELCOME BACK. Prior to this past weekend, redshirt freshman Peter Fuchs, Jr., missed a trio of games due to an injury. Fuchs, Jr., suited up against Bemidji State, but didn't register any minutes. He made his return to the rotation against Northern State this past Saturday and was great off the bench, scoring nine points in 19 minutes, while also pulling down two rebounds. The last time he saw the Vikings, he scored a career-high 10 points on 5-11 shooting from the field.

·  SHOT SWATTER. Another Golden Eagle leading the conference in a category is first year Golden Eagle Aguek Deng. Deng's athleticism and length has shown up on multiple occasions, both on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball. Deng leads the Northern Sun with 1.9 blocks per game, as well as his 45 blocks on the season. Deng has gone just five games this season without registering a block and had a stretch of nine straight games with a block up to the game last Saturday against Northern State. Deng is elite at sending shots back and not making anything easy on his opponents.

·   BIG FACTOR.  This season has been a really good year for the Golden Eagles on the defensive side of the ball, allowing almost nine points less than they did a season ago to their opponents. An interesting factor in that has been the 3-point line. Minnesota Crookston shoots the third least 3's in the NSIC with 487 attempts on the season (WSC shoots the second least) and the Golden Eagles' opponents have shot 540 against them, which is the eighth most against an opponent in the NSIC. Something to watch this weekend will be if the Golden Eagles take a lot of 3's and don't give up many attempts and makes.

·   PROTECT THE BALL AND FINISH THE POSSESSION. In this year's loss to the Wildcats, there were two big numbers that stood out and were big components to the Wildcats beating the Golden Eagles. WSC outrebounded Minnesota Crookston by five, which isn't a large number, but they doubled up the Golden Eagles on the offensive glass. Wayne State also forced 14 turnovers and scored 15 second chance points in that game. Rebounding and turnovers are a key factor in any game and that could play a factor again this Saturday.

·   AS TIGHT AS CAN BE. The scoring title in the NSIC might literally come down to the last regular season weekend across the conference. Blaize Sagna currently leads the prestigious conference in scoring at 21.7 points per game, but there are four other players in the top-five, who are averaging 21 or more points on the season. Sagna will look to finish the season strong as he currently sits 99 points away from the 1,000 point club. Sagna is looking to be the fourth ever Golden Eagle to score 1,000 points; Harrison Cleary, Joe Hasz and Akeem Cubie all are in the 1,000 point club and did it in four years wearing the maroon and gold. Should Sagna break the 1,000 point mark, he would've done it in half the time.

• LEAVE A LEGACY. That's exactly what the Golden Eagles who will be honored this weekend have done during their time at Minnesota Crookston. The Golden Eagles will have three players more than likely playing their final games on their home floor: Blaize Sagna, De'Antray Hughes and Xzavier Jones. Jones has missed the season due to an injury. The three mentioned are two years Golden Eagles and were the first recruiting class for Bryan Beamish. They have helped grow the program in year one to year two and the Golden Eagles will look to send them off this weekend with a pair of wins.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 8-44 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (Second as Head Coach)


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


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


Augustana @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Friday, Feb. 16
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: Augustana leads 20-3
Last Meeting: 84-60 win for the Vikings earlier this year in Sioux Falls
Officials: David Drexler, Ben Wolden and Brayden Schildberger

Wayne State @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Saturday, Feb. 17
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Live Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: WSC leads all-time series, 26-10
Last Meeting: 62-53 win for WSC in Wayne earlier this year
Officials: Chad Bjornson, Reid Flaagan and Perry Olson

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles (6-18)
Projected Starters
Jr. G 3 Reid Grant (6-3, Johnston, Iowa) 14.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.5 APG
Jr. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 21.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG
R-Jr. F 13 Aguek Deng (6-9, Des Moines, Iowa) 6.4 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.0 BPG
Jr. F 33 Ben Hoverson (6-6, Grand Forks, N.D.) 5.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG
R-Jr. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 5.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Sr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 4.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG
R-Fr. G 12 Peter Fuchs, Jr. (6-4, Wausau, Wis.) 6.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Fr. G 11 Myles Adams (6-6, Rosemount, Minn.) 2.1 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Fr. G 24 Mario Adams (6-6, Rosemount, Minn.) 2.7 PPG, 1.8 RPG
Augustana Vikings (14-10)
Projected Starters
Sr. G 2 Jadan Graves (6-2, Syracuse, New York) 15.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Jr. G 3 Akoi Akoi (6-6, Sioux Falls, S.D.) 7.0 PPG, 4.8 RPG
Fr. G 5 Arhman Lewis (6-0, Madison, Wis.) 8.8 PPG, 1.7 RPG
Fr. F 11 Caden Kirkman (6-8, Wilton, Iowa) 6.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Gr. G 21 Isaac Fink (6-4, Springfield, Minn.) 19.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 1 Brayson Laube (6-2, Marion, Iowa) 4.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG
So. F 10 Brady Helgren (6-9, Edina, Minn.) 4.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG
So. F 20 Caden Hinker (6-7, Mitchell, S.D.) 7.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Gr. G 22 Bennett Otto (6-4, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 1.6 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Wayne State College Wildcats (13-12)
Projected Starters
R-So. G 1 Alec Millender (6-3, Chicago, Ill.) 13.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Jr. G 2 Sean Stokes (6-4, Bensalem, Penn.) 3.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG
Jr. F 7 Trey Deveaux (6-5, Lincoln, Neb.) 15.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG
Jr. G 12 Jay Saunders (5-11, Omaha, Neb.) 3.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Jr. F 35 Cody McCullough (6-8, Ankeny, Iowa) 8.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. F 0 Elijah Watson (6-7, Chicago City, Ill.) 6.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Fr. G 3 JJ Ferrin (6-3, Omaha, Neb.) 7.5 PPG, 1.4 RPG
So. G 10 David Harmon (6-4, Omaha, Neb.) 10.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Jr. F 25 Noah Erickson (6-8, Omaha, Neb.) 2.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG


#HEADLINES


1. One final weekend at home for the Golden Eagles

2. Second time this season playing Augustana and Wayne State

3. Senior Weekend for the maroon and gold

4. Can the Golden Eagles put two halves together?

5. Can the Golden Eagles force misses?


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Augustana. The Vikings might not be at the top of the NSIC but at 14-10 overall and 9-9 in the NSIC, they are a team that can put a scare in an opponent come March. The Vikings at one time were winners of six in a row, starting when they played the Golden Eagles for the first time. Since that six game winning streak, they have lost three out of their last four games, including a two game losing streak. Crunch time starts now for the Vikings, who are more than likely in the top-12 of the NSIC, but would like to avoid a hiccup this weekend.

1-2 PUNCH. What makes the Vikings dangerous is the scoring punch that Isaac Fink and Jadan Graves provide. The seniors average almost 35 points per game and they score the ball efficiently. Fink is 12th in the NSIC in shooting percentage, making almost half of his shots on the season, while Graves leads the league in makes from three, making 70 on the season, shooting at a 47 percent clip from long range. Opponents more than likely won't stop Fink and Graves, but slowing them down is a must in order to beat the Vikings.

KEEP THE DUO ON THE FLOOR. Much like Blaize Sagna and Reid Grant for the Golden Eagles, the Vikings have a tough time taking Graves and Fink off the floor. The duo of Graves and Fink average 32 minutes per game on the season, ranking in the top 15 of the conference. There is a really good chance that you will see Fink and Graves on the floor for a lot of minutes on Friday night.

DIFFERENT COMBINATIONS. The Vikings have had an inconsistent lineup for a majority of the season. Graves, Fink and Akoi Akoi are three Vikings that have started in every game this season and all three are averaging over 24 minutes per game. Besides those three, the Vikings have inserted six different players in the starting five this season and four of those six players have started five or more games. It will be interesting to see the combination that head coach Tom Billeter puts on the floor to start the game this Friday.


Wayne State. Much like the Vikings, the Wildcats have been scuffling as of late, losing four out of their last five games, with that lone win a 22 point win over CSP. If the season ended today, the Wildcats would make the tournament as the last team in the NSIC, but as we all know, the season doesn't end today and the Wildcats will look to finish the season strong.

PRETTY EVEN. Dating back to 2007, the Wildcats and Golden Eagles have met 12 different times and the meetings between the two programs have been fairly even. WSC leads the Golden Eagles in the series, 7-5, since 2007, but the two programs have split the series dating back to the last 10 games. In the last four games, the Golden Eagles and Wildcats have split those games. We will see what Saturday brings, but there is a decent chance that it will be close and down to the wire.

PICK YOUR POISON. Wayne State has an offense that is middle of the pack, scoring roughly 75 points per game and they have been led by the trio of Trey Deveaux, Alec Millender and David Harmon. The three underclassmen each average in double-figures and combine to score more than half the points for the Wildcats. The last time these two met, that trio combined for 27 points.

SIMILAR STRUCTURE. These two teams are very similar when you take a look at the big picture. They're both solid defensively and have guys offensively that can put the ball in the basket. An eerily similar facet is three-point shooting. Wayne State College has shot 484 times from behind the arc, while the Golden Eagles have shot 487 times as a team. WSC has made 171 shots from deep, ten more than the Golden Eagles. If those numbers stay that similar on Friday, the game will come down to another factor and the question then would be what team wins that factor. That could decide the game on Saturday.