Men's Basketball | 12/30/2025 2:05:00 PM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will ring in the New Year with a pair of home games on Saturday with a conference opponent in MSU Moorhead and on Monday with their sibling school, Minnesota Morris, which will be the first meeting with the Cougars since 2009. Minnesota Crookston will look to put a halt to their nine game losing streak and start 2026 on a high note inside the friendly confines of Lysaker Gymnasium.

·   BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE GAME. Earlier this season, the Dragons controlled the matchup with the Golden Eagles in a wire-to-wire win over Minnesota Crookston. It was a dominant first half for the Dragons, who led by 17 after the first 20 minutes. When you look at the stats, the one thing that sticks out is the rebounding numbers. MSU Moorhead out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 52-34, finishing with 17 offensive rebounds and 19 second chance points. If the Golden Eagles want to flip the script on Saturday, rebounding will be at the forefront.

• DO WHAT YOU DO, DONEZ. A bright spot in that loss to MSU Moorhead was the fantastic play of Donez Lindsey. The freshman, who leads the Golden Eagles in scoring, finished with a career-high 25 points on 9-17 shooting from the field and buried a career-high four makes from long range, while also playing 34 minutes. It is Lindsey's lone game through his young career with more than 20 points. The Golden Eagles will hope for more of the same from the California star.

·  SWENSON SHINES. The duo of Swenson and Lindsey, both freshman, have led the way for the Golden Eagles, especially as of late. Swenson has scored in double-figures in five of the past seven games, including a 20 point output against St. Cloud State and 19 at home against Jamestown. You can just tell that Swenson is coming into his own as of late and the Golden Eagles will continue to rely on the lanky freshman to continue his offensive output.

·   J.D.R.  Slowly but surely, J.D. Roberts has seen his role grow more and more over the past few weeks. The Central Arkansas transfer has played 20 minutes or more in five straight games, including a career-high 31 minutes off the bench in the loss to Northern State. Roberts also has three or more rebounds in five straight games and has at least one make from long range in three straight games.

·    BUCKET GETTER. It doesn't take much for junior Alijah Washington to get going and put the ball in the basket. In the loss to Northern State, Washington finished with 19 points, including 17 in the first half. Washington has seven games this season with more than 10 points, including a season and career high 22 against Minnesota Duluth earlier this year. Washington has five games this season with exactly six field goal makes from the field, which is a weird stat if you are a stat nerd like I am.

·   TURNOVER FREE. Turnovers were an issue earlier this season for the Golden Eagles, starting the season with seven straight double-digit turnover games, including 11 against MSU Moorhead. Since those first seven games, the Golden Eagles are averaging just 9.6 turnovers per game, which includes a program low three turnovers against Bemidji State earlier this season. The Golden Eagles have done a fantastic job as of late taking care of the basketball and they will hope that carries over into 2026.

• WE MEET AGAIN. On Monday night, Minnesota Crookston will welcome in their fellow system school Minnesota Morris for the first time since 2009. The Cougars are a Division III program, but the Golden Eagles and Cougars met fairly regularly from 2000-2009 and the Cougars were even once a part of the now 16-team NSIC. The players and coaches have changed, but the Golden Eagles will look to make it four straight wins over the Cougars, with their last win coming in November of 2009.

• FREE THROW DISPARITY. Another potential small, but key factor for the Golden Eagles have been their ability to score points at the free throw line. On the season, the Golden Eagles have shot 230 free throws as a team, compared to 256 for their opponents, while the Golden Eagles make two less free throws per game than their opponents. As a team, the Golden Eagles are shooting 69 percent from the free throw line, which is near the bottom half in the NSIC.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 15-77 Season at UMC: 12th Season (Fourth as Head Coach)

MSU Moorhead Dragons
Head Coach: Jason Kemp
Record at MSUM: 7-6  Season at MSUM: 1st Season 

Minnesota Morris Cougars
Head Coach: Paul Grove
Record at UMM: 268-306  Season at UMM: 24th Season

MSU Moorhead @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Saturday, Jan. 3
Time: 1 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: MSUM leads the all-time series, 39-11
Last Meeting: 95-69 win for the Dragons earlier this year in Moorhead


Minnesota Morris @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Monday, Jan. 5
Time: 6 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: Minnesota Crookston leads the all-time series 12-4
Last Meeting: A 70-65 win for the Golden Eagles way back in 2009

#HEADLINES

1. Two home games to open the New Year

2. Chance to get on track

3. Continue to lean on the freshmen

4. Have to hit shots at home

5. First game against Minnesota Morris since 2009


Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Projected Starters
Fr. F 1 Spencer Swenson (6-8, Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 10.1 PPG, 5.9 RPG
Jr. F 10 Kazadi Mukoma, Jr. (6-8, Grand Island, Neb.) 11.9 PPG, 3.9 RPG
Fr. G 2 Donez Lindsey (6-0, Stockton, Calif.) 14.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG
R-Jr. G 15 Alijah Washington (6-4, San Bernardino, Calif.) 12.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG
So. G 20 Hunter Lorenson (5-11, Lake City, Minn.) 5.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 3 GD Deng (6-4, Des Moines, Iowa) .3 PPG, 1.2 RPG
Fr. G 11 Caiden Swenby (6-3, Fertile, Minn.) 2.0 PPG, 1.2 RPG
Jr. G/F 21 J.D. Roberts (6-6, Parkville, Mo.) 5.4 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Fr. F 23 Brayden Carlson (6-9, Woodbury, Minn.) 3.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG
Fr. G 12 Landon Dimler (6-5, Mankato, Minn.) 4.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG
 
MSU Moorhead Dragons
Projected Starters
Sr. F 1 Sam Hastreiter (6-7, Lincoln, Neb.) 10.6 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Fr. G 5 Isa El-Amin (5-11, Minnetonka, Minn.) 12.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG
So. G 22 Tysen Gerads (6-4, Avon, Minn.) 10.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Fr. F 20 Sam Hondl (6-7, Avon, Minn.) 5.3 PPG, 3.5 RPG
So. F 32 Adam Jenkins (6-9, Moorhead, Minn.) 5.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-Jr. G 00 Dominic Gooden (6-1, Cleveland, Ohio) 15.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG
Sr. G 10 Eddie Beeninga (6-1, Maple Grove, Minn.) 1.8 PPG, .7 RPG
Jr. G 11 Levi Birkholz ( 6-3, Lake Mills, Wis.) 6.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Sr. F 13 Timaris Brown (6-5, Chicago, Ill.) 5.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Sr. F 24 Kabine Kaba (6-8, Brooklyn Center, Minn.) 5.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG
Sr. F 25 Rodrick Payne (6-8, Cottage Grove, Minn.) 8.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Minnesota Morris Cougars
Projected Starters
Sr. G 2 Gustav Gunderson (6-0, Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 5.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG
Jr. G 5 Kaden Pieper (6-3, Belgrade, Minn.) 15.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG
Sr. G 14 Thomas Tiernen (6-0, Morris, Minn.) 5.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG
So. F 23 Carvin Fish (6-7, Sisseton, Minn.) 18.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG
Jr. F 34 Matt Thompson (6-7, Hancock, Minn.) 17.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. G Leul Samuel (5-10, Burnsville, Minn.) 1.2 PPG, .7 RPG
Sr. G Leroy Staples-Fairbanks IV (6-4, Cass Lake, Minn.) 5.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG
So. F Jang Dak (6-6, Lincoln, Neb.) 2.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG

KNOW THE OPPONENTS

MSUM. This meeting will be the first time in three seasons that the Golden Eagles and Dragons will have met twice in a season. It's been a series that is dominated by the Dragons, especially as of late. MSUM has won 10 straight games in the series, with the last Golden Eagles victory coming at home, a dominant 94-61 victory in 2020. MSUM has lost three straight conference games.

STRUGGLES FROM THE FIELD. In their loss to Northern State a week before Christmas, MSU Moorhead struggled mightily from the field. The Dragons shot just 30 percent from the field, which is by far their season low by nearly 10 percent as a team. In fact, it's the only game this season that the Dragons have shot less than 40 percent from the field.

GOOD(EN) STUFF. Dwight Gooden proved early on this season with a 43 point output against Black Hills State that he can be one of the best scorers in the Northern Sun. However, in conference play, it has been kind of a different story. The redshirt junior from Cleveland is shooting just 33 percent from the floor, 31 percent from three and averaging 10 points per game, five points less than his total average. Gooden has scored single digits in four conference games on the year.

EA SPORTS, IT'S IN THE GAME. Isa El-Amin is right up there with Donez Lindsey as one of the best freshmen in the NSIC. El-Amin is second on the team in scoring, but leads the team in conference points per game. Starting with the last time these two teams met, El-Amin had five straight games with more than 10 points, including a career-high 28 and the game-winning shot against Minnesota Duluth earlier this year. It should be a really good battle between the freshmen guards on Saturday.

Minnesota Morris. UMM enters the game on Monday night with the Golden Eagles on a two game winning streak, but have yet to enter conference play in the UMAC. The game is considered an exhibition for the Cougars, but a regular season game for the Golden Eagles.

QUITE THE TRIO. The Cougars average just 77 points per game on the season, but have quite the three-headed monster that helps lead the way offensively. Sophomore Carvin Fish leads the way at nearly 19 points per game, while Matt Thompson and Kaden Pieper combine to average nearly 33 points per game. Those three account for nearly 65 percent of their team's points.

MT.  Thompson has been the most consistent player in the Cougars lineup. The junior from Hancock, Minn., has scored more than 10 points in each game this season and has three double-doubles on the year, as well. Thompson also has seven games with double-digit three-point makes.

FIRST MEETING IN 16 YEARS.  It will be the last non-conference game this year for the Golden Eagles and first time in 16 years that these two teams have met. The Cougars have never won in Crookston.