Men's Basketball | 11/5/2026 3:55:00 PM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will welcome in the reigning NSIC regular season champions to Lysaker Gymnasium on Monday night for the home and season opener. St. Cloud State makes the return trip to Crookston this season after a non-conference game last season in St. Cloud went the way of the Huskies. This will be a non-conference game and it is one of two on Monday night featuring conference opponents in non-conference play; Concordia-St. Paul makes their way to Duluth for a date with the Bulldogs.

·   STELLAR SOPHOMORES. Minnesota Crookston will be extremely thrilled this season to see No. 1 on the back of Spencer Swenson and No. 2 on the back of Donez Lindsey. The stellar sophomores are back in the fold for year two after carrying a heavy load last season, both offensively and defensively. Swenson averaged 14.5 points per game as a freshman, while Lindsey averaged 14.2 and both of them combined to start 42 games on the season. Swenson and Lindsey were first and second in a number of categories, including points per game, minutes played per game and field goals made. Minnesota Crookston will hope for a jump from both Swenson and Lindsey. If they get the sophomore jump, watch out for the maroon and gold this season.

• TOP FOUR RETURN. In this day in age in collegiate sports, it's a massive luxury to return any of your returners that made an impact. What's it called when you return four of your top scorers from a year ago? An extremely massive luxury? I'm not sure, but I do know that to go along with Swenson and Lindsey, Minnesota Crookston also returns Alijah Washington and Kazadi Mukoma, Jr., each of whom averaged double-figures a season ago. Having Lindsey and Swenson back is huge, but having Mukoma, Jr., and Washington back in the fold seems extremely important.

·  FIRST TIME IN 13 YEARS. Minnesota Crookston will do something that they haven't done in 13 years; open the season inside Lysaker Gymnasium. The last time the Golden Eagles had their first game at home came in 2013, a loss to Valley City State. It will be the first time that the Golden Eagles have opened up the season at home against a Division II opponent since 2006, when they lost by 13 to the University of North Dakota, who was also in the transition to Division I. It should be a fun one inside Lysaker Gymnasium on Monday night.

·   REBOUND THE ROCK.  Call me crazy, but rebounding is a lost art in the game of basketball, but man, is it important. Minnesota Crookston lost the rebounding battle by three last season, which is a solid number, but the Golden Eagles this season will have the ability and personnel to close out the possession on the first shot. The last time the Golden Eagles finished with a positive rebounding differential came back in 2010-11. Teams in the NSIC are too good to give second and third chances to and the Golden Eagles will hope to end the possession on the first crack.

·    FIREPOWER. A season ago, Minnesota Crookston made 231 three's on the season, the third most in program history, with the most coming in 2018-19, when the Golden Eagles buried 310 from beyond the arc in that record setting year. The Golden Eagles had seven games in 2025-26 with ten or more three-point makes, including a school record 21 in a blowout win over Oak Hills Christian College early last year. This year could be another great year from behind the arc, as the Golden Eagles return their four best three-point shooters, as well as Brady Westphal, who made 23 threes on the season.

·   TO BE THE BEST, YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST. Minnesota Crookston will get a massive test on Monday night when the Huskies come to town. SCSU had one of the best seasons in program history a year ago, winning 26 games and the NSIC regular season championship after starting 0-2. This will be a massive barometer for the Golden Eagles, who return 10 contributors from a season ago, while the Huskies return 11, including NSIC Defensive Player of the Year Wyatt Hawks.

• DEPTH GALORE. In their lone exhibition game at North Dakota State, the Golden Eagles got a good tune-up for Monday night. Minnesota Crookston lost to the reigning Summit League Champions, but saw nine players log 10 or more minutes, led by Quincy Everson and Alijah Washington, who played 31 and 30 minutes, respectively. The Golden Eagles also had three in double-figures. It was a loss to the Bison, but there were a lot of things to like as the Golden Eagles gear up for the real thing.

• THE JOURNEY BEGINS. Minnesota Crookston will tip-off on the season on Monday night and St. Cloud State will be the first of many quality opponents this season for the Golden Eagles. Monday will commence a busy week into the weekend for the maroon and gold, as they will then travel to Oklahoma for a pair of weekend games with quality regional opponents in Central Oklahoma and Northwestern Oklahoma State. The road to the postseason will be one of twists and turns and hopefully a trip to the postseason.

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 19-92 Season at UMC: 13th Season (Fifth as Head Coach)

St. Cloud State Huskies
Head Coach: Quincy Henderson
Record at SCSU: 68-54  Season at SCSU: 5th Season

St. Cloud State @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Monday, Nov. 9
Time: 6 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Gary Senske Court at Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://www.midcosportsplus.com/?school=university-of-minnesota-crookston
Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: SCSU leads the all-time series, 36-4
Last Meeting: Two point win for the Huskies last January


KNOW THE OPPONENTS

St. Cloud State. The Huskies will make their way to Crookston on Monday night for a non-conference game with Minnesota Crookston. SCSU is coming off an NCAA Central Region Tournament appearance and an NSIC regular season championship. The Huskies went 20-2 in conference play last season and had a stretch where they won 18 games in a row, which included an 80-78 win over the Golden Eagles in Crookston during that stretch.

HAWKSEYE VIEW. The Huskies did lose their do-it-all, straw that stirs the drink type player in Luke Winkel to the transfer portal, but they still do return two guys that averaged double-figures a season ago. That includes senior Wyatt Hawks. The native of White Bear Lake, Minn., was named to an All-Region team, All-NSIC first team, All-NSIC Tournament team and the reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Year. Hawks is really good and is back to try to lead the Huskies back to the NCAA Tournament.

A-DUB. The big reason for the Huskies victory last January in Crookston was the career game from Azayah Washington. Now a sophomore, Washington finished with 21 points on 8-15 shooting from the field and 4-10 from three-point land and pulled down three rebounds. As a freshman, Washington played in all 33 games, coming off the bench for all of them. Washington could see a much larger role this season, which includes him being on the floor at tip-off.

TOP TO BOTTOM. The interesting thing about St. Cloud State in 2025-26 was how they shot and defended the three. You wouldn't normally think that a team that shoots just 30 percent from three and ranks 252 out of 289 teams in that category wouldn't win 26 games, but when they hold opponents to less than 30 percent from three, good for top-15 nationally, that cancels it out. The Huskies also had the best scoring defense in the conference and ninth best scoring offense in the NSIC.