Men's Basketball | 2/10/2026 1:39:00 PM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle men's basketball will wrap-up their home portion of the schedule with a three game homestand; Thursday against Minot State, Saturday against UMary and next Wednesday against their Highway-2 rivals Minnesota Duluth. The Golden Eagles have been right on the doorstep many times this season, now they have four more opportunities this season to go through the door.

·   TERRIFIC TWO. Minnesota Crookston has relied on their younger players a ton this season and we have talked about their two fantastic freshmen, Donez Lindsey and Spencer Swenson, many times this season and rightfully so. The Golden Eagles especially relied on those two on Thursday night at Northern State. Lindsey finished with 24, while Swenson finished with 20, combining for 44 of the teams' 71 points in the loss. Each of those two also finished with eight rebounds apiece. The Golden Eagles have two unreal building blocks for next year and beyond.

• PRETTY GOOD COMPANY. It's been a long time since the Golden Eagles have seen a freshman, let alone two freshmen have a season like both Lindsey and Swenson are having. Both first year Golden Eagles are on pace to have the most points by a Golden Eagle freshmen since Harrison Cleary scored 640 points in his first season of what turned out to be an illustrious career. Lindsey has 348 points on the year, while Swenson has 306. They won't get to Cleary's freshman scoring record, but that's a feat nearly as tough as climbing Mount Everest.

·  MICROWAVE. Speaking of Cleary, Swenson joins him in some pretty good company, as well. The freshman from Sauk Rapids, Minn., has been on a tear as of late, scoring more than 20 points in three straight games, becoming the first Golden Eagle freshman to do that since Cleary. Swenson, who has six games with more than 20 points this season, finished with 25 points against St. Cloud State (his second 20 or more output against SCSU this season), 20 against Northern State and 23 against Jamestown.

·   EFFICIENCY.  Coming off the bench the past few games has seemed to have been a good thing for sophomore Brayden Carlson. The Woodbury, Minn., native has come off the bench the past three games and is averaging about 8 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game in about 16 minutes per game. Dating back to the Minnesota State game in which Carlson started, he is 14-19 from the field and hasn't missed a shot in two games. He also tied a career-high with 13 points on 5-5 shooting against Jamestown.

·    SCORING BARRAGE. The Golden Eagles have been humming offensively as of late. Despite five straight losses, the Golden Eagles have scored 70 or more points in three straight games, something they haven't done since late January into early February of 2023. The Golden Eagles offense has been working efficiently and have been getting a ton of open looks, which has led to their solid offense as of late.

·   B4 FOR THREE. The Golden Eagles offense has been helped by the shooting of Brady Westphal. The freshman has struggled a bit from long range as of late, but Westphal has played in 13 games this season and has at least one three in 12 of those games. He also has more than one make from long range in five games. Westphal is fourth on the Golden Eagles with 20 makes from long range. The freshman's only game without a make from long range came against the Golden Eagles Saturday opponent, UMary, when he shot 0-2 from three.

• MAKIN' THE MOST OF HIS MINUTES. Owen Chervestad was inserted in the starting lineup three games ago and has seemed comfortable in that spot. The freshman from nearby Oklee, Minn., has played 27 minutes per game in his last three games and is scoring at more than six points per game through that stretch, while also pulling down five rebounds per game. 'O' has also been very efficient, shooting 9-12 in that three game stretch, mostly shots from around the rim.

• TICKLE THE TWINE.  In their previous matchup with UMary, the Golden Eagles had one of their worst offensive games of the season, maybe by a decent margin. The Golden Eagles shot a season low 25 percent from the field and 3-25 from long range against the Marauders zone defense, while also turning it over 17 times, which tied a season-high set three times this season. UMary outrebounded the Golden Eagles by 10 and made 10 more shots from the field. The Golden Eagles will look to tickle the twine a bit more against the Marauders on Saturday.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 17-91 Season at UMC: 12th Season (Fourth as Head Coach)

Minot State Beavers
Head Coach: Randall Herbst
Record at MSU: 10-14  Season at MSU: 1st Season

University of Mary Marauders
Head Coach: Darren Tighe
Record at UMary: 5-19  Season at UMary: 1st Season 

Minot State @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Thursday, Feb. 12
Cancer Awareness Game
Time: 7:30 PM
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: Minot State leads 23-4
Last Meeting: 69-61 win for the Beavers in the Minot Dome earlier this year

UMary @ Minnesota Crookston
Date: Saturday, Feb. 14
Time: 3 P.M.
Place: Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/
Stats: https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: UMary is 27-10 all-time and have won six in a row
Last Meeting: 79-54 win for the Marauders in Bismarck earlier this year


#HEADLINES
1. Senior Day on Saturday

2. SAAC Game of The Year on Thursday against Minot State

3. Rematch with the Beavers and Marauders

4. Start of three straight games at home

5. Can the Golden Eagles make shots against the Marauders zone?

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Projected Starters
Fr. G 4 Brady Westphal (6-2, West Fargo, N.D.) 5.4 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Fr. G 2 Donez Lindsey (6-0, Stockton, Calif.) 14.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 3.1 APG
Fr. F 1 Spencer Swenson (6-8, Sauk Rapids, Minn.) 13.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG
Sr. G 3 GD Deng (6-4, Des Moines, Iowa) 1.3 PPG, 1.1 RPG
Fr. G 24 Owen Chervestad (6-0, Oklee, Minn.) 2.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG
Top Bench Players
So. F 23 Brayden Carlson (6-9, Woodbury, Minn.) 3.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG
So. G 11 Caiden Swenby (6-3, Fertile, Minn.) 1.5 PPG, 1.0 RPG
R-Jr. G 15 Alijah Washington (6-4, San Bernardino, Calif.) 11.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Jr. F 10 Kazadi Mukoma, Jr. (6-8, Grand Island, Neb.) 11.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Jr. G/F 21 J.D. Roberts (6-6, Parkville, Mo.) 4.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG
Minot State Beavers
Projected Starters
R-Jr. G 2 Deuce Benjamin (6-0, Las Cruces, N.M.) 19.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG
Jr. G 13 Darik Dissette (6-4, Minot, N.D.) 14.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG
R-Jr. F 5 Isaiah Alexander (6-7, Bronx, New York) 12.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG
R-Fr. F 23 Carson Yale (6-9, Minot, N.D.) 8.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG
R-Jr. G 11 Trey Brandt (6-1, Beulah, N.D.) 6.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG
Top Bench Players
R-So. G 1 Kiku Parker, Jr. (5-11, Sacramento, Calif.) 5.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG
R-So. C 10 Lovasoa Andriatsarafara (7-0, Toamasina, Madagascar) 4.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG
R-Sr. F 12 Dylan Gichaba (6-6, Brooklyn Park, Minn.) .6 PPG, 1.9 RPG

UMary Marauders
Projected Starters
Jr. G 5 Kelton Coleman (6-2, Fort Worth, Texas) 13.2 PPG, 3.5 RPG
Fr. G 14 Parker Brodina (6-4, Devils Lake, N.D.) 5.6 PPG, 3.0 RPG
So. G 13 Tamerrien Henderson (6-5, West Salem, Wis.) 6.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG
Jr. F 25 Jackson Ware (6-9, Northern Rivers, Australia) 7.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG
Sr. G 55 Noah Thomas (6-2, Chico, Calif.) 7.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Top Bench Players
Sr. G 24 Cayden Redfield (6-5, Hardin, Montana) 9.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Fr. G 3 Andre Austin (6-2, Bismarck, N.D.) 7.1 PPG, 3.0 RPG
R-So. G 0 Alex Dvorak (6-0, Dickinson, N.D.) 5.9 PPG, .5 RPG
So. F 23 Relja Nagulic (6-7, Subotica, Serbia) 4.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG
Jr. G 2 Amare Jackson (6-4, Seattle, Wash.) 6.3 PPG, 2.4 RPG

KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Minot State. The Beavers will make the return trip to Crookston on Thursday looking to sweep Minnesota Crookston in the season series. MSU has won 10 of the previous 12 games with the Golden Eagles, but were upset in Crookston a season ago when the Beavers were ranked in the top-20 nationally.

POTW. Minnesota Crookston has seemed to get Beaver star Deuce Benjamin at the wrong time both times this season. This will be the second time this season that Benjamin has won NSIC North Player of the Week prior to playing Minnesota Crookston, as the junior was also named POTW in December prior to the first meeting. Benjamin has scored in double-figures in every game this season and is fifth in the Northern Sun in scoring. Benjamin is coming off a buzzer-beater against Minnesota Duluth to give the Beavers a big win over the Bulldogs at home.

UNCONVENTIONAL.  The Beavers are not a high volume three-point shooting team. On the season, the Beavers have just 120 makes from long range on the season on 369 attempts. In fact, their opponents have nearly double the amount of makes and attempts on the season. Benjamin leads the way with 57 makes from long range, followed by 23 from Trey Brandt. On the season, Minot State has just one game with more than 10 makes in a game and they haven't done it against a Division II opponent. The Beavers rank near the bottom nationally in both three-point attempts and three-point makes on the season.

FLIP THE SCRIPT.  Speaking of three-point shooting, it's hard to believe that the Beavers will want to make just one three in the matchup with the Golden Eagles. A season ago, the Beavers were a really good shooting team from three, but were just 1-21 from long range in the three-point loss. The Beavers will hope for long range success this Thursday.

UMary. The Marauders and Golden Eagles are in similar spots in the season, as the Marauders have just one more win than the Golden Eagles on the year. The Marauders have lost 11 in a row and haven't won a game in 2026.

LAUNCH IT. An interesting thing to note in the Marauders game log is where a large amount of their points come from. In a 17 point loss against Wayne State College, the Marauders made 26 shots from the field, 16 of which came from beyond the arc. In their last three games, the Marauders have 83 field goal makes, 44 percent of them have been from behind the arc.

FRESHMAN FIREBIRD. Freshman Parker Brodina hasn't had a ton of standout moments this season, but man, he was special against Concordia-St. Paul. In a loss to the Golden Bears, the former Devils Lake High School standout finished with 18 points on 7-8 shooting from the field and 4-5 from three, all of which are career bests. 

SAME SCRIPT. The Marauders will feel really, really good if they can do on Saturday what they did the previous meeting to Minnesota Crookston. UMary held the Golden Eagles to a season low 25 percent from the field, the only time the Marauders have held an opponent to a sub-30 percent field goal percentage. UMary has allowed their opponents to shot higher than 42 percent in eight straight games, which includes a stretch of five straight games with their opponents missing less than half their shots.