MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Minnesota State Moorhead men's basketball has three games slated for Thanksgiving week with the stretch opening against Minnesota Crookston on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The Dragons will play non-conference games against Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday and Sunday as part of the CSP Thanksgiving Tournament. 

Live video and stats will be available at msumdragons.com. Fans can tune into Tuesday's game on the NSIC Network with Steve d'Eustachio on play-by-play and Jared Bledsoe on color commentary. 

Matchup History...On Tuesday, Moorhead will put a nine-game win streak against the Golden Eagles on the line. The Dragons have not lost to Minnesota Crookston since January 11, 2020. In the last 33 meetings overall, Moorhead has won 27 of those contests. The Mustangs snapped a four-game losing streak to Moorhead a season ago behind a 59-53 rock fight in Marshall, Minn. The Dragons have only dropped three games to the Mustangs dating back to the 2014-15 season. The Golden Bears and Dragons split their season series a year ago, but Moorhead has controlled recent meetings. Moorhead has defeated CSP in six of their last seven games. 

Gooden's Gold...Redshirt junior Dominic Gooden was electric for the Dragons at the East-West Shootout last weekend. Gooden poured in 43 points against 17th-ranked Black Hills State on Friday. The performance is tied for the seventh-most points in a single game in school history, matching legend Brett Beeson's 43-point game against Wayne State in 1995. The Cleveland, Ohio, native shot 75 percent for the floor against the Yellow Jackets. Gooden would score 15 points in the victory over South Dakota Mines, finishing the weekend averaging 29 points per game on over 60 percent shooting. 

Rod In His Bag...Senior post Rodrick Payne turned in two strong performances last weekend for the Dragons. Payne scored a season-best 13 points against Black Hills State on Friday, adding five rebounds and a pair of steals. Against South Dakota Mines, Payne scored seven points on 75 percent shooting. 

KB For Three...Senior stretch Kabine Kaba was instrumental for the Dragons on both ends of the floor last weekend. Kaba scored 11 points (all in the second half) in the win over South Dakota Mines on Saturday. The Brooklyn Center, Minn., native also collected six rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots against the Rockers. Kaba drilled four three-pointers on the weekend at a 50 percent success rate. 

Freshmen Impact...Friday's win over Black Hills State was aided by 12 points from freshman Isa El-Amin. Fellow frosh Sam Hondl was also a major piece to MSUM's success. Hondl scored seven points with six rebounds and two steals against the Yellow Jackets. The Avon, Minn., native scored 10 points with two rebounds against South Dakota Mines. 

Gerads Is Grinding...Guard Tysen Gerads had a stellar showing on Saturday against South Dakota Mines. Gerads scored a team-high 17 points to go along with four steals and four rebounds. The Avon, Minn. native shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the game.

Jason Kemp is in his first season as MSUM's head men's basketball coach. 

Scouting The Opposition

Minnesota Crookston
2025 Record: 1-2 (0-0 NSIC)
2024 Record: 5-23 (4-18 NSIC)
Head Coach: Bryan Beamish (4th Season)
Nickname: Golden Eagles
Top Eagle: Kazadi Mukoma Jr. (15.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 41.7 FG)

Southwest Minnesota State
2025 Record: 0-2 (0-0 NSIC)
2024 Record: 21-9 (16-6 NSIC)
Head Coach: Brad Bigler (17th Season)
Nickname: Mustangs
Top Mustang: Aeron Stevens (16.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 36.4 FG)

Concordia-St. Paul
2025 Record: 3-0 (1-0 NSIC)
2024 Record: 22-9 (16-6 NSIC)
Head Coach: Matt Fletcher (3rd Season)
Nickname: Golden Bears
Top Bear: Ben Kopetzki (24.7 PPG, 3 APG, 46.8 FG)