Men's Basketball | 1/7/2026 2:00:00 PM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will re-enter NSIC play this weekend on the road for their first look at the NSIC South teams. Minnesota Crookston will play both Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul for the third straight season on the road. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 20 point victory on Monday night against Minnesota Morris.

·   NO FRESHMAN WALL. Donez Lindsey is just one of two Golden Eagles to start in all 14 games this season, joining Kazadi Mukoma, Jr. Lindsey is having a fantastic start to what should be a great career in the prairies. Lindsey has scored in double-figures in all but one game this season, where he scored nine points in a loss at the University of Mary. Lindsey leads the Golden Eagles in minutes played per game, three-point makes, points per game and has 45 assists on the season, which is seventh best in the Northern Sun. Lindsey's 27 steals on the year is also currently fourth best in the NSIC. It's been a great start to the career for the California native.

• BACK LIKE HE NEVER LEFT. When Chandler Meeks stepped back onto the floor for the Golden Eagles for the first time this season, it was a special sight for Golden Eagle nation and probably one of the better feelings for Meeks. It was almost a year to the day since Meeks donned a Golden Eagle uniform and he put on a show off the bench, finishing with 12 points and two rebounds in 19 minutes played. Meeks adds another element to the backcourt for the Golden Eagles alongside Lindsey.

·  BEST WEEKEND AS A GOLDEN EAGLE. The Golden Eagles saw the best from Kazadi Mukoma, Jr., this past weekend. The great thing about that, is that Mukoma, Jr., probably still has more in him. The junior from Grand Island, Neb., finished with 24 points on 7-18 from the field in the loss to MSU Moorhead and then finished that up with 15 points on 5-11 shooting from the field in the win over Minnesota Morris. Mukoma, Jr. averaged 19 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game, which was his best weekend as a Golden Eagle. He is one of the best free throw shooters in the conference and backed that up with a 10-11 showing at the charity stripe in two games.

·   SPENCE.  Spencer Swenson has seemingly started to figure out Northern Sun basketball. The freshman from Sauk Rapids, Minn., has scored in double-figures in four straight games, including a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Northern State. To go along with his 13.7 points per game in his last four games, Swenson is also averaging 7.5 rebounds per game in that stretch, as well. In all but one of the games Swenson has played, he has made more than one field goal.

·    PULL IT DOWN, BIG FELLA. Brayden Carlson also maybe had his best weekend of the season this past weekend to open up the new year. Carlson averaged 6.5 points per game through two starts and also finished with nine rebounds in both games against the Dragons and Cougars. It was a fantastic weekend for the sophomore from the Twin Cities and he will look to continue that strong stretch this weekend playing closer to home.

·   SHOULD WE HEAD WEST? Freshman Brady Westphal might eventually shoot himself into the Golden Eagle rotation. The southpaw from Fargo, N.D., has been fantastic from long range when he has gotten into the game. Westphal has eight threes in 25 minutes played on the season and albeit coming in late game minutes, had four threes against Oak Hills Christian and three in just seven minutes against Minnesota Morris. Westphal adds an element that the Golden Eagles could use in meaningful minutes down the stretch.

• THE SWENBY SENSES. Playing double-digit minutes for the first time in over a month, sophomore Caiden Swenby showed out in the win against Minnesota Morris. The former Fertile-Beltrami star finished with seven points and four rebounds after going scoreless in the previous six games played. Swenby looked comfortable on both ends and will hope that continues against the Warriors and Golden Bears.

• HEY REID.  There will be a familiar face on the bench this Friday night sporting the opponent colors. Reid Grant, former two-year starter for the Golden Eagles after transfering from the University of North Dakota and all-conference performer, is in his first season as an assistant coach for Todd Eisner and Winona State. The Golden Eagles will hope to defeat their former standout this Friday for their first conference win.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 16-78 Season at UMC: 12th Season (Fourth as Head Coach)

Winona State Warriors
Head Coach: Todd Eisner
Record at WSU: 162-127  Season at WSU: 11th Season 

Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears
Head Coach: Matt Fletcher
Record at CSP: 52-91  Season at CSP: 6th Season

Minnesota Crookston @ Winona State
Date: Friday, Jan,. 9
Time: 5:30 PM
Place: Winona, Minn. / McCown Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/winonastatewarriors/
Stats: https://winonastatewarriors.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: WSU leads the all-time series 35-5
Last Meeting: 80-64 win for the Warriors a season ago in Winona

Minnesota Crookston @ Concordia-St. Paul
Date: Saturday, Jan. 10
Time: 2 P.M.
Place: St. Paul, Minn. / Gangelhoff Center
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/cspbears/
Stats: https://cspbears.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: CSP leads 27-10
Last Meeting: 88-73 win for the Golden Bears a season ago

#HEADLINES

1. Two more road games

2. Have to hit shots

3. Continue to lean on the freshmen

4. Playing in Winona for third straight season

5. First games against NSIC South

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Projected Starters
So. F 23 Brayden Carlson (6-9, Woodbury, Minn.) 3.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG
Jr. F 10 Kazadi Mukoma, Jr. (6-8, Grand Island, Neb.) 13.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG
Fr. G 2 Donez Lindsey (6-0, Stockton, Calif.) 14.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG
R-Jr. G 15 Alijah Washington (6-4, San Bernardino, Calif.) 12.3 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Jr. G/F 21 J.D. Roberts (6-6, Parkville, Mo.) 4.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 3 GD Deng (6-4, Des Moines, Iowa) .8 PPG, 2.0 RPG
So. G 11 Caiden Swenby (6-3, Fertile, Minn.) 2.2 PPG, 1.3 RPG
So. G 20 Hunter Lorenson (5-11, Lake City, Minn.) 4.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Fr. F 1 Spencer Swenson (6-8, Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 10.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG
R-Jr. G 5 Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.) 12.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG
 
Winona State Warriors
Projected Starters
So. G 10 Tyler Mason (6-2, Metamora, Ill.) 11.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG
Fr. G 11 Allesandro Tonelli (6-4, Brescia, Italy) 7.3 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Fr. G 15 Aidan Bardic (6-3, Lincolnshire, Ill.) 9.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG
So. F 22 Ryan Hiese (6-10, Lake City, Minn.) 12.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG
Fr.  F 24 Ryan Watters (6-6, DeWitt, Iowa) 2.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. F 12 Connor Roffers (6-5, Burlington, Wis.) 1.8 PPG, 1.2 RPG
Sr. G 14 Tyler Borowski (6-2, Appleton, Wis.) 3.4 PPG, 1.0 RPG
Jr. F 20 Tyson Keil (6-7, Appleton, Wis.) 2.8 PPG, 1.4 RPG
Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears
Projected Starters
R-Fr. G 0 Ryan Johnson (6-4, Lakeville, Minn.) 5.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Jr. G 5 Ben Kopetzki (6-0, Andover, Minn.) 21.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG
Jr. F 11 Jaden Wysocki (6-7, Rochester, Minn.) 9.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG
Sr. G 14 Reid Patterson (6-2, Lakeville, Minn.) 9.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Jr. F 24 Chet Kloss (6-6, Apple Valley, Minn.) 5.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. G 2 Marcus Burks (6-4, Lakeville, Minn.) 3.4 PPG, 2.0 RPG
So. F 21 Isaiah Deitz (6-6, Park Falls, Wis.) 1.0 PPG, .8 RPG
So. G 22 Hudson Vaith (6-5, Lakeville, Minn.) 2.7 PPG, 1.8 RPG


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Winona State. Winona State and Minnesota Crookston will meet this weekend as the conference enters their North-South meetings in the month of January. The Golden Eagles and Warriors have played in some fun games in recent memory, specifically their NSIC Quarterfinal game in 2019, which resulted in a Warrior win.

DEFENSE LEADS TO A WIN. In their win over Concordia-St. Paul, Winona State got it done on the defensive side of the basketball. The Warriors held Concordia-St. Paul to just 67 points on 31 percent shooting from the field and 23 percent from deep. The Warriors have the eighth best scoring defense in the Northern Sun.

BALANCED SCORING. In their dominant win over CSP, the Warriors not only had outstanding defense, but they rode a balanced offense to that win. WSU had all five scorers in double-figures and Tyson Keil off the bench finished with 10 points. The Warriors may have found a recipe for success.

LET IT FLY. Tyler Mason is a guy that the Warriors rely upon to hit deep shots. The sophomore from Illinois has 124 shot attempts on the season, 78 of which have come from long range, which is the seventh best in the NSIC. Mason has twice as many makes from deep on the season than the next Warrior, while also hitting at least one three in every game he has played in this season.

Concordia-St. Paul. After losing just nine games a season ago and winning an NCAA Tournament game, the Golden Bears have six losses on the season and are two games below .500 in conference play. The Golden Bears will look for three straight wins in the series over the Golden Eagles.

BK, HAVE IT YOUR WAY. One would suspect that the Golden Bears would've struggled offensively with the loss of Antwan Kimmons due to graduation, but so far, Ben Kopetzki hasn't allowed that struggle. The junior is having a player of the year type season, leading the league in field goal attempts, points scored, free throw makes and is second in scoring per game and field goals made. Kopetzki has eight games this season with 20 or more points this season.

DO IT ON THE OTHER END.  While Kopetzki gets it done on one end of the ball, Sam West does it all for the Golden Bears on the other end. The senior ranks seventh in the country in steals with 36 and 13th in steals per game with more than two thefts per game. West has four games this season with four or more steals, including a six steal performance against Southwest Minnesota State earlier this year.

LET IT FLY.  Although the Golden Bears shot just 22 percent in their loss to Winona State, the Golden Bears are a solid team from deep on the season. The Golden Bears rank seventh in the NSIC in three point percentage, fourth in both makes and attempts per game and they also hold opponents to 31 percent from long range, which ranks third in the NSIC.