Men's Basketball | 12/10/2025 11:29:00 AM

TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball is back on the road this weekend for the sixth and seventh times through 2025. Thankfully, it's the final road trips of the calendar year for the maroon and gold. The Golden Eagles are right there. Through eight games, they are having their best offensive season since 2018-19, which was a magical year for the Golden Eagles, having advanced to the NSIC Quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The Golden Eagles are averaging 77 points per game on the season. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will hope to bring that offense on the road once again for a Thursday night game at UMary and Saturday in the Minot State Dome, where traditionally the Golden Eagles have struggled.

·   FAST START. Despite the loss on Saturday afternoon at home against BSU, Minnesota Crookston got off to a start that will start to lead them to some wins. The Golden Eagles moved out to a fast 11-0 start against the Beavers and led by as many as 11 in that first half. It was a loss, but the Golden Eagles have to feel really good about the way they played against the Beavers. Unfortunately, every single Beaver turned into prime Steph Curry in the second half, scoring 56 points in the final 20 minutes.

• THE STREAK LIVES ON. Donez Lindsey has been everything the Golden Eagles have asked for and then some. The freshman from Stockton, Calif., has scored double-figures in every game this season and has hit at least one three in each of those games, as well. To go with that, the standout freshman is averaging five assists in his last two games and has at least one steal in all but one game this season.

·  MAKE IT RAIN. The three point shot has been used effectively for the Golden Eagles this season. Ever since their first two games of the season, where they ranked near the bottom nationally with just nine makes through those two games, the Golden Eagles have flipped that script. The Golden Eagles rank 46th nationally with over nine per game, while also ranking 37th nationally and second in the conference in three-point attempts at nearly 27 per game. With the way they have shot the ball the last two games, it's only a matter of time until the wins start raining down for the Golden Eagles.

·   FINISH THE JOB THIS TIME.  It's a brand new team in the 2025-26 season for the Golden Eagles, but they feel like they can maybe take a few lessons from last years' game with the Marauders. As one would expect when these two teams meet, it was a tight one between the Marauders and Golden Eagles; In fact, it was the tightest of margins, a one point win for the Marauders. Minnesota Crookston saw the Marauders bury four free throws in the final minute to upend the Golden Eagles, who led by three in the final minute. This year, the Golden Eagles will hope for a different outcome in a pretty large game right before Christmas.

·    I'LL TAKE A KAZADI, PLEASE. In the Golden Eagles' second home game of the season, junior Kazadi Mukoma, Jr., stood out in a big way on the offensive end of the ball. The junior finished with a career-high 26 points on 8-14 from the field and 5-10 from long range. His eight makes and five makes and 10 attempts from long range were all career highs. The Grand Island, Neb., native has 11 makes from long range in his last four games, which helps the Golden Eagles and their success from deep.

·   MORE BITES AT THE APPLE. Minnesota Crookston had the offense rolling for a majority of that loss against Bemidji State, except for about five minutes in the second half. One of the biggest reasons for that success was the Golden Eagles ability to get shots up at the rim. The Golden Eagles had a season low three turnovers in the loss, which by far breaks their previous season low of 10 at Upper Iowa. In fact, the three turnovers are a new program low in a game dating back to 2003-04 and it coincidentally broke the previous record of four turnovers, which happened last season at home against Bemidji State.

• 18 HELPERS. The parallel to having just three turnovers for the Golden Eagles was also their ability to find the open man and get a number of easy shots. The Golden Eagles finished with 18 assists compared to just 10 for Bemidji State. Head Coach Bryan Beamish preaches ball movement and spacing, both of which have come to fruition this season.

• FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER? No matter what team in the conference makes the North Dakota trip, it's always going to be a tough swing for any team to get a pair of wins. The Golden Eagles will hope that this season they can head back home from North Dakota with a pair of wins. The only time that the Golden Eagles have brought out the brooms for their annual North Dakota trip was five years ago when Harrison Cleary was a senior. The Golden Eagles feel like they have a good team and will be playing really good basketball late in the season. Maybe Santa will leave a pair of difficult-to-get wins in the stocking this weekend in Nodak.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 15-73 Season at UMC: 12th Season (Fourth as Head Coach)


University of Mary Marauders
Head Coach: Darren Tighe
Record at UMary: 2-6  Season at UMary: 1st Season 

Minot State University Beavers
Head Coach: Randall Herbst
Record at MSU: 5-4  Season at MSU: 1st Season

Minnesota Crookston @ UMary
Date: Thursday, Dec. 11
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Bismarck, N.D. / The MAC
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goumary/
Stats: https://goumary.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: UMary leads the all-time series, 26-10 and have won the last five
Last Meeting: 70-69 win for the Marauders in Bismarck last season


Minnesota Crookston @ Minot State
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Time: 3:30 P.M.
Place: Minot, N.D. / Minot State Dome
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/msubeavers/
Stats: https://msubeavers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: Minot State leads 22-4
Last Meeting: A 68-65 win for the Golden Eagles over the then-ranked Beavers in Crookston


#HEADLINES
 1. Find a way to play a full 40

2. Can the Golden Eagles win on the road?

3. Continue to shoot the three well

4. Freshmen have led the way this season

5. New look with both UMary and Minot State

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Projected Starters
Fr. F 1 Spencer Swenson (6-8, Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 9.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG
Jr. F 10 Kazadi Mukoma, Jr. (6-8, Grand Island, Neb.) 13.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG
Fr. G 2 Donez Lindsey (6-0, Stockton, Calif.) 15.3 PPG, 3.3 RPG
R-Jr. G 15 Alijah Washington (6-4, San Bernardino, Calif.) 13.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG
So. G 20 Hunter Lorenson (5-11, Lake City, Minn.) 6.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 3 GD Deng (6-4, Des Moines, Iowa) .4 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Fr. G 11 Caiden Swenby (6-3, Fertile, Minn.) 2.8 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Jr. G/F 21 J.D. Roberts (6-6, Parkville, Mo.) 5.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Fr. F 23 Brayden Carlson (6-9, Woodbury, Minn.) 3.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG
Fr. G 13 Quincy Everson (6-2, Goodyear, Minn.) 3.6 PPG, 1.6 RPG
Fr. G 12 Landon Dimler (6-5, Mankato, Minn.) 4.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG
 
UMary Marauders
Projected Starters
Jr. G 5 Kelton Coleman (6-2, Fort Worth, Texas) 14.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG
So. F 23 Relja Nagulic (6-7, Subotica, Serbia) 6.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG
So. G 13 Tamerrien Henderson (6-5, West Salem, Wis.) 8.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Jr. F 25 Jackson Ware (6-9, Northern Rivers, Australia) 6.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG
Jr. G 1 Kenny Gonzalez (6-0, San Diego, Calif.) 5.4 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 24 Cayden Redfield (6-5, Hardin, Montana) 9.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Fr. G 3 Andre Austin (6-2, Bismarck, N.D.) 5.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG
Jr. G 2 Amare Jackson (6-4, Seattle, Wash.) 6.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Sr. G 55 Noah Thomas (6-2, Chico, Calif.) 6.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG
Jr. G 11 Tshawn Bois (6-4, Quebec, Canada) 8.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG
Minot State Beavers
Projected Starters
R-Jr. G 2 Deuce Benjamin (6-0, Las Cruces, N.M.) 20.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Jr. G 13 Darik Dissette (6-4, Minot, N.D.) 14.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG
R-Jr. F 5 Isaiah Alexander (6-7, Bronx, New York) 11.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG
R-Fr. F 23 Carson Yale (6-9, Minot, N.D.) 9.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG
R-So. G 1 Kiku Parker, Jr. (5-11, Sacramento, Calif.) 5.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. G 11 Trey Brandt (6-1, Beulah, N.D.) 4.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG
R-So. C 10 Lovasoa Andriatsarafara (7-0, Toamasina, Madagascar) 6.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG

KNOW THE OPPONENTS

UMary. The Marauders will be the first of two opponents this weekend that are in the beginning stages of a new era. The Marauders are led by Darren Tighe, who is in his first season at the helm following stops at Dakota State in South Dakota and Mayville State in North Dakota. The Marauders are 2-6 overall and have one win in conference play.

TRANSFER PORTAL HIT. The transfer portal can be a swing-and-miss for certain colleges, no matter what level. The Marauders brought in Kelton Coleman from fellow NSIC school Augustana and so far, so good for UMary. Coleman leads the Marauders in scoring this season and is the only scorer in double-figures on the season. The southpaw has gotten a bigger role and has ran with it this season.

COMES IN THREE. Sophomore guard Tamerrien Henderson has three double-digit scoring outputs this season. When you look at those three games, one common theme sticks out; More than one make from long range. In fact, in those three games, Henderson has made three three-pointers in each of those games and has just one make from long range in the other five games. Defending Henderson from the three-point line could be the difference for the Golden Eagles.

BIG DIFFERENCE. Speaking of the three-point line, there is a pretty big difference in percentage for the Marauder opponents. Marauder opponents have shot about 40 attempts less than the Marauders this season, but their opponents are shooting an astonishing 40 percent from long range and have made two more threes than the Marauders despite the way less attempts. That could be a good recipe for the Golden Eagles this Thursday night.

Minot State. Minot State will undoubtedly look for some revenge in the first of two meetings between the Highway-2 rivals this season. The Golden Eagles stunned Minot State last season in Crookston when the Beavers were then ranked in the top-25. It should be a good one this Saturday in the Magic City.

DEUCES. Deuce Benjamin is another transfer this season that has made an instant impact. The redshirt junior from New Mexico currently leads the NSIC in points scored this season and is second in points per game at just over 20 per contest. Benjamin has six games this season with 20 or more points on the season, including a career-high 30 against South Dakota Mines. In his last for games, Deuce, who fittingly wears No. 2 is averaging 25.5 points per game and earned his first NSIC North Player of the Week this past weekend.

BACK HOME.  Darik Dissette is back home. The transfer from North Dakota State is back home in the city where he was named Mr. Basketball and the Gatorade Player of the Year at Minot High. At NDSU, Dissette did play in 61 games, earning two starts and averaging nearly 3 PPG. Dissette is one of four Beavers in double-figures this season.

1-21.  In that loss to the Golden Eagles last season, the Beavers struggled massively from long range. Minot State shot 1-21 from long range in the three-point loss to the Golden Eagles. It was a magical season a year ago for the Beavers, but they struggled to shoot it in that loss. Granted, the Beavers have just two players on this years' roster that played in that game, so it's a different team. However, the three-point line will be the difference.