Men's Basketball | 11/24/2025 11:34:00 AM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will open up NSIC play on Tuesday night on the road with their travel partner, MSU Moorhead. Minnesota Crookston is 1-2 on the season and are coming off a historic win over Oak Hills Christian College last Wednesday. The Golden Eagles defeated the Wolfpack 115-53, setting the school record in points scored, margin of victory (62) and three point makes (21). It's a bit of a bigger challenge this Tuesday in Nemzek Hall, but the Golden Eagles have to feel good about themselves heading into the all-important conference opener.

·   CHANGE OF FORTUNE. Minnesota Crookston will look for a change of fortune this Tuesday night inside Nemzek. The Golden Eagles have just one win in their last 15 tries in Moorhead, which came on a buzzer-beating shot by Ibu Jassey-Demba to give the Golden Eagles the win. The last four trips to Moorhead have not been kind to the Golden Eagles, losing by an average of 24 points in those four games. The tide is eventually going to turn and the Golden Eagles hope this is the time.

• GOT OUT OF A FUNK. 21 three-point makes will get a team out of a funk, no doubt. The Golden Eagles set a school record for makes from deep with 21, including 13 in the second half, which is one of the most makes in a half in school history. The Golden Eagles ended their two games at Oklahoma near the bottom in three-point percentage in the nation and are now near the middle of the pack. The Golden Eagles also 35th in the nation in makes from long range and second in the NSIC with 10 threes made per range. The Golden Eagles have alot of weapons to go to offensively and although 21 makes from deep is a tough mark to shoot for on a game-to-game basis, the Golden Eagles have to feel like they got out of a funk from behind the arc.

·  SIGN OF THINGS TO COME? The Golden Eagles like to turn defense into offense, as most teams do. They have taken that to a whole other level through three games this season. Minnesota Crookston has the best turnover margin and most turnovers forced in the NSIC through three games and have forced nearly 19 turnovers per game. The Golden Eagles have forced more than 10 turnovers in each game this year and forced 18 against Central Oklahoma and 24 in the domination of Oak Hills Christian. The 24 turnovers forced was the first time since February of 2020 that the Golden Eagles have forced 20 or more turnovers, as well as the most turnovers forced by the Golden Eagles since 11/20/13, when they forced 26 in a win over Finlandia.

·   LET IT FLY.  We've talked about it earlier that the Golden Eagles feel like they have the ability to beat a lot of opponents this season, due to their (anticipated) offensive firepower. Part of that firepower is their ability to let it fly from deep. The Golden Eagles have shot a whopping 95 attempts from long range this season, with 44 of those coming in the win over Oak Hills Christian. It's a complete flip from last season, as the Golden Eagles ranked 12th in the conference and near the bottom half nationally in three-point attempts in 2024-25. The three-point shot seems to be a weapon early this season for the maroon and gold.

·    HUNTER DOES HIS JOB. Hunter Lorenson had his best game in a Golden Eagle uniform on Wednesday night in the win over Oak Hills Christian. Lorenson finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists and was a perfect 3-3 from long range. The 14 points, five assists and three makes from deep were each a career high and it was the first three makes from long range in 23 career games for Lorenson. The Golden Eagles love Lorenson for his toughness and how hard he plays and if he can add offense to his repertoire, watch out.

·   NO PROBLEM ON THE GLASS. Once again, Minnesota Crookston dominated the glass. The Golden Eagles outrebounded Oak Hills Christian by 30, 56-26 and grabbed their most rebounds in a game since 2018, when they grabbed 60 against, coincidentally, Oak Hills Christian. The relentlessness and ability to grab a miss will go a long way for the maroon and gold this season.

• ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Minnesota Crookston will be doing a ton of bonding and getting to know each other on the road in the next month or so. Before Christmas break, the Golden Eagles will play 10 games, seven of those will be on the road, including seven of their next eight games coming away from Crookston. That includes an exhibition game at North Dakota State in mid-December. This stretch of the season could define the Golden Eagles.

• THREE DIFFERENT STARTING FIVES. The Golden Eagles have played in three games this season and have started three different starting lineup combinations. The Golden Eagles have had three players start every game (Kazadi Mukoma, Jr., Donez Lindsey and Landon Dimler). Hunter Lorenson and Alijah Washington have started two games each, while J.D. Roberts and Spencer Swenson have each started one game in the early part of the season.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 14-72 Season at UMC: 12th Season (Fourth as Head Coach)

MSU Moorhead Dragons
Head Coach: Jason Kemp
Record at MSUM: 2-2  Season at MSUM: 1st Season 

Minnesota Crookston @ MSU Moorhead
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 25
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Moorhead, Minn. / Nemzek Fieldhouse
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/msumdragons/
Stats: https://www.msumdragons.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: MSUM leads the all-time series, 38-11
Last Meeting: 90-64 win for the Dragons last year in Moorhead

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Projected Starters
Fr. F 1 Spencer Swenson (6-8, Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 6.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Jr. F 10 Kazadi Mukoma, Jr. (6-8, Grand Island, Neb.) 15.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG
Fr. G 2 Donez Lindsey (6-0, Stockton, Calif.) 12.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG
R-Jr. G 15 Alijah Washington (6-4, San Bernardino, Calif.) 13.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Jr. G/F 21 J.D. Roberts (6-6, Parkville, Mo.) 5.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 3 GD Deng (6-4, Des Moines, Iowa) 1.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Fr. G 11 Caiden Swenby (6-3, Fertile, Minn.) 4.3 PPG, 1.3 RPG
So. G 20 Hunter Lorenson (5-11, Lake City, Minn.) 7.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG
Fr. F 23 Brayden Carlson (6-9, Woodbury, Minn.) 2.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Fr. G 13 Quincy Everson (6-2, Goodyear, Minn.) 6.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Fr. G 12 Landon Dimler (6-5, Mankato, Minn.) 5.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG
MSU Moorhead
Projected Starters
Sr. F 1 Sam Hastreiter (6-7, Lincoln, Neb.) 8.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG
Fr. G 5 Isa El-Amin (5-11, Minnetonka, Minn.) 10.3 PPG, 2.5 RPG
So. G 22 Tysen Gerads (6-4, Avon, Minn.) 10.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG
Sr. F 24 Kabine Kaba (6-8, Brooklyn Center, Minn.) 4.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG
So. F 32 Adam Jenkins (6-9, Moorhead, Minn.) 3.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. G 00 Dominic Gooden (6-1, Cleveland, Ohio) 21.0 PPG, 1.5 RPG
Sr. G 10 Eddie Beeninga (6-1, Maple Grove, Minn.) 4.0 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Jr. G 11 Levi Birkholz ( 6-3, Lake Mills, Wis.) 5.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG
Sr. F 13 Timaris Brown (6-5, Chicago, Ill.) 4.5 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Fr. F 20 Sam Hondl (6-7, Avon, Minn.) 5.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Sr. F 25 Rodrick Payne (6-8, Cottage Grove, Minn.) 7.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG

KNOW THE OPPONENTS

MSU Moorhead. The two travel partners will meet this Tuesday for a pretty large game to open up the conference season. Both teams will have a challenging start to the conference season, so a fast start could be paramount for both teams. MSUM has to like that they are starting the NSIC conference season at home. The Dragons have won four straight conference home openers and will look to make it five straight against a team that hasn't won in Moorhead since 2019.

GOOD START FOR A DRAGON. Dominic Gooden is the Dragons' leading scorer off the bench through four games. In fact, he nearly has twice as many points scored this season than any other Dragon. A big part of that was his 43-point game in a win over No. 17 Black Hills State last Friday. In that game, Gooden finished 6-8 from the three-point line and was 13-14 from the free throw line. Gooden has scored double-figures in all four games this season and is fourth in the Northern Sun in scoring at 21.0 PPG.

LEGACY. Fans will recognize the last name of Isa El-Amin. That is, if you are a Minnesota High School basketball fan. El-Amin is the son of Minneapolis South and University of Connecticut legend Khalid El-Amin. Khalid played for legendary Huskies coach Jim Calhoun and played with the likes of Richard 'Rip' Hamilton while at UCONN. He also had a cup of coffee with the Chicago Bulls. Now, it's Isa's turn to pave his own path on the college route and he's off to a good start as a Dragon.

BACK ON TRACK. The Jason Kemp era for MSUM didn't get off to the best of starts this season, losing by 32 to perennial power Washburn and losing to Pittsburg State by 20 the following day to open the season. However, MSUM righted the ship and finished with a pair of really nice wins last weekend at home against No. 17 Black Hills State and South Dakota School of Mines. The Dragons are a different team, but they seem to be finding their way a bit through the opening segments of the season.