First Weekend on 2023 on Tap for Golden Eagle Men on Road at Winona State, Upper Iowa


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Golden Eagle men's basketball will hope that the new year brings them some wins. They have been close in a number of games this season, but unfortunately, they have not been able to get in the win column in NSIC play. This past weekend, the Golden Eagles had a one point lead at halftime against Minot State, before falling by 20 to the Beavers. On Saturday, the Golden Eagles trailed late, made a late push, but fell short against the University of Mary. This weekend, Minnesota Crookston will head south and play the first of four-straight weekends against NSIC South opponents. The Golden Eagles will play a familiar foe in Winona State, a team they have played twice in the NSIC playoffs and Upper Iowa, where Dorman Gymnasium is one of the toughest places to play in the Northern Sun.

·   A BLAIZING STRETCH. No matter what the score is or who the opponent is for the Golden Eagles, Blaize Sagna always plays hard and gives opponents fits. Dating back to the weekend after Thanksgiving, the sophomore guard has scored in double-figures in every game, a stretch of seven straight games. In those seven games, Sagna has a 26 and 25 point output and has made a three-point field goal in every game dating back to Nov. 26. To go along with the points, Sagna has pulled down four or more rebounds in each game as well. It has been a hot stretch for the London, England native, who now ranks 12th in the NSIC in points per game.

• ROTATION. Undoubtedly, it has been an interesting season for first-year head coach Bryan Beamish and his Golden Eagle squad. Minnesota Crookston has dealt with some injuries and illnesses this season, but there have been two constants in the rotation all season: Rambo Badyal and De'Antray Hughes. Badyal and Hughes are the only Golden Eagles to play in all 14 games, while Hughes has started six of those games and Badyal has earned two starts this season, the first two of his career. The key to any team is health and Badyal and Hughes have brought that important factor this season.

·     THE JONES JOURNAL. Minnesota Crookston has the backcourt of the future in Blaize Sagna and Xzavier Jones. We already talked about Sagna and how outstanding he has been this season. Jones has been very good as well this season. The former Northern Michigan Wildcat is in his first season at Minnesota Crookston and is currently right behind Sagna with 12.6 points per game. Much like Sagna, Jones has had a solid stretch. The Milwaukee native has had five straight games with more than 10 points, including 17 last Saturday against the University of Mary. Jones has one double-double on the season, which coincidentally came against his former Northern Michigan squad earlier this year.

·    HEAT CHECK. Matthew Allman has been another positive impact player this season for the Golden Eagles. The London native played one of his best games on Friday night against Minot State, where he finished with 17 points on 5-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 4/4 shooting from behind the arc. It was the second time this season that Allman was perfect from behind the arc, when he finished 4/4 from the field against Presentation College, the lone win for Minnesota Crookston this season. Allman is one of the best shooters for Minnesota Crookston and he will look to shoot the ball well down the stretch for the maroon and gold.

·    WIN THE BATTLE ON THE BOARDS. Although they lost to the University of Mary on Saturday afternoon, it was one of the better performances for Minnesota Crookston this season. After allowing 17 offensive rebounds to Minot State on Friday, the Golden Eagles cleaned that up on Saturday, winning the rebounding battle by three, the first time they won the rebounding battle since Presentation College on Nov. 25. Rebounding is such an important battle to win and the Golden Eagles will look to win that battle against the third best rebounding team in the NSIC on Friday against Winona State.

·   CHAN THE MAN. Another bright spot this season for the Golden Eagles has been the play of Chandler Meeks. The freshman from Omaha, Neb., has played in ten games this season, including seven starts. On Saturday against the Marauders, he was awesome, finishing with 15 points, tying a career-high on 5-10 from the field and 2-3 from deep. He also had a soaring block on a Marauder fastbreak where he seemingly reached the rafters. Meeks has a bright future in the NSIC and will look to continue his elite athleticism and playmaking skills.

• J-MITCH. This past weekend, Jordan Mitchell earned his first two career starts as a Golden Eagle. Although he didn't score a ton (2.5 PPG), Mitchell was effective in the paint. The redshirt sophomore from Columbus, Ohio pulled down six rebounds in both games against the Beavers and Marauders, which tied a career-high. In the loss to UMary, he also played a career best 26 minutes. When he's healthy, Mitchell can make a big impact in the paint for the Golden Eagles as they enter the new year.


Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish
Record at UMC: 1-13 Season at UMC: Eighth Season (First as Head Coach)


Winona State Warriors
Head Coach: Todd Eisner
Record at WSU: 108-89 Season at WSU: 8th Season

Upper Iowa Peacocks
Head Coach: Brooks McKowen
Record at UIU: 157-123 Season at UIU: 10th Season

Minnesota Crookston @ Winona State
Date: Friday, Jan. 6
Time: 7:30 P.M.
Place: Winona, Minn. / McCown Gymnasium
Watch: https://nsicnetwork.com/winonastatewarriors/
Live Stats: https://winonastatewarriors.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Listen Live: https://www.kqal.org/sports/
Series Record: The Warriors lead the series, 32-4
Last Meeting: 70-65 victory for the Warriors in Crookston
Officials: Isaiah Conrad, Rhett Lamareoux and Phil Ayeni


Minnesota Crookston @ Upper Iowa
Date: Sat. Jan. 7
Time: 5:30 P.M.
Place: Fayette, Iowa / Dorman Gymnasium
Watch: https://www.nsicnetwork.com/uiupeacocks/
Live Stats: https://uiupeacocks.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Series Record: 11-3 lead for the Peacocks
Last Meeting: 74-63 win for UIU, in Crookston
Officials: Keswic Joiner, Jeff Haack and Tanner Pearson

Weekly Snapshot

Minnesota Crookston
Projected Starters
Jr. G 4 Xzavier Jones (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.) 12.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG
So. G 1 Blaize Sagna (6-3, London, England) 14.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG
R-Jr. G/F 11 Matthew Allman (6-6, London, England) 6.2 PPG, 2.9 RPG
Jr. G/F 24 Dezmond Washington (6-6, Morrilton, Ark.) 9.9 PPG, 5.4 RPG
R-So. F 10 Jordan Mitchell (6-8, Columbus, Ohio) 3.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Top Bench Players
Fr. G 5 Chandler Meeks (6-1, Omaha, Neb.) 6.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG
So. F 14 Pedro Rossi (6-8, Bahia Blanca, Argentina) 4.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG
R-Jr. F 2 De'Antray Hughes (6-7 New Orleans, La.) 4.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG
So. G 3 Ron Kirk, Jr. (6-4, Milwaukee, Wis.) 3.8 PPG, 1.6 RPG
Sr. G 20 Rambo Badyal (6-3, Kelowna, British Columbia) 7.3 PPG
Winona State
Projected Starters
So. G 2 Connor Dillon (6-2, Peoria, Ill.) 19.2 PPG, 4.7 RPG
So. G 3 Declan Dillon (6-1, Peoria, Ill.) 7.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Sr. G 10 Owen King (6-2, Caledonia, Minn.) 6.0 PPG, 3.3 RPG
Sr. G 11 Luke Martens (6-3, Apple Valley, Minn.) 12.9 PPG, 7.6 RPG
So. F 30 Connor Drew (6-7, Huxley, Iowa) 10.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. G/F 4 James Kelley (6-5, Milwaukee, Wis.) 6.4 PPG, 3.5 RPG
So. F 24 Drew Adams (6-8, Woodbury, Minn.) 3.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG
Fr. G 5 Devon Fielding (6-2, La Crosse, Wis.) 2.4 PPG, 1.3 RPG
Jr. F 13 Carson Arenz (6-5, Onalaska, Wis.) 2.0 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Upper Iowa University
Projected Starters
R-Sr. G 2 Lucas Duax (6-3, Dubuque, Iowa) 17.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG
Jr. F 3 Nick Reed (6-7, Central City, Iowa) 13.9 PPG, 8.9 RPG
Sr. G 15 Jake Hilmer (5-11, Walker, Iowa) 20.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 5.7 APG
Sr. F 21 Dylan Jones (6-8, Waukee, Iowa) 8.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG
Fr. G 22 Austin Hilmer (5-10, Walker, Iowa) 3.7 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Top Bench Players
Jr. F 12 Caleb Delzell (6-9, Camanche, Iowa) 5.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG
Sr. G 10 Max Duax (6-2, Dubuque, Iowa) 5.0 PPG, 1.9 RPG
So. G 40 Carter Janssen (6-6, Cedar Falls, Iowa) 4.9 PPG, 1.7 RPG
R-Sr. G 25 Jackson Foley (5-8, Swisher, Iowa) 2.0 PPG

KNOW THE OPPONENTS

Winona State. Winona State got off to a 4-0 start, including a pair of really nice wins over Wisconsin-Parkside and Missouri Southern. The Warriors are losers of three out of their last five games, but are winners of two straight over Augustana on the road in double overtime and at Upper Iowa, just last weekend. Winona State has never lost to the Golden Eagles in Winona. Does that change this weekend?

DILLON IS DYNAMIC. Sophomore guard Connor Dillon is one of the best scorers in the NSIC. The Peoria, Ill., native leads his team in scoring with 19.7 points per game, which also puts him seventh in the conference. Dillon has nine games with over 20 points, five games with more than 20 field goals in a game and seven games with eight or more attempts from deep. It's no secret that when Dillon is playing good, so are the Warriors. Connor also has a twin brother, Declan, who is also an impact player for WSU.

THE KING OF PASSING. South Dakota State transfer Owen King isn't going to wow anyone with his scoring ability. The Caledonia, Minn., native has started in all 13 games this season for the Warriors, but has scored in double-digits just twice. King will help you in other ways. The senior is currently 11th in the Northern Sun with 3.9 assists per game and has an eight assist game against Viterbo earlier this season. Stopping King will be a tall task this weekend for Minnesota Crookston.

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE. Winona State is an interesting team. They are really, really good defensively, but can struggle at times on the offensive end. The Warriors are 13th in the NSIC in scoring at 70.6 points per game, but are 5th in points allowed per game. Shooting wise, the Warriors are ranked 16th in field goal percentage at just over 40 percent, but hold opponents to 42.8 percent shooting from the field, which ranks third in the conference. Will they have some offensive success this weekend against the Golden Eagles?

Upper Iowa. The Peacocks have had an up and down season so far in 2022-23. UIU is 7-7 on the season, but have lost three in a row, including a loss in overtime to Augustana to start the skid. The Peacocks do have an impressive win at Sioux Falls and have lost to Minnesota Crookston just once in Fayette, coming all the way back in 2011, in overtime.

YOU'LL HEAR FROM HILMER. Minnesota Crookston will not only have to defend one of the best scorers on Friday night at Winona State, they'll have to turn around and try to defend an even better scorer on Saturday. That will be a theme in the NSIC South, as six of the league's top eight scorers are from NSIC South schools. Jake Hilmer, the native of Walker, Iowa is currently fourth in the NSIC with 20.9 points per game and has three 30-point outputs this season, including 32 this past weekend against Winona State. A season ago, the Golden Eagles did a great job on Hilmer, holding him to just 5-20 shooting in the game.

DOUBLE THE DUAX, DOUBLE THE PROBLEM. Brothers Lucas and Max Duax make for a dynamic duo for head coach Brooks McKowen and the Peacocks. Lucas, the redshirt senior and Max, the senior from Dubuque, Iowa have combined to start 23 games on the season and each play over 20 minutes per game. Lucas is averaging just over 17 points per game, while Max is averaging 5.0 points per game. Stopping the Duax brothers is a tough task for any opponent.

WIN WITH IOWANS. The Peacocks have done an outstanding job of building one of the best programs in the NSIC with a lot of local flavor. Upper Iowa has an astounding 18 players from the state of Iowa on their roster and their projected starting five and top bench players are all from the Hawkeye State. It's been a strategy that has been working for the Peacocks.