Box Score CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota, Crookston men's basketball team pit up a gritty hard-fought battle against Northern State University Friday night.  Skye Warwick spearheaded a three-point explosion late in the second half as NSU would hit seven second-half treys to lift the Wolves over the Golden Eagles 72-53 after UMC was down only 48-44 with 10:52 remaining in the game. UMC falls to 3-14 (0-13 NSIC) while Northern State improves their record to 15-5 (10-3 NSIC). The Wolves remain in a tie with St. Cloud State for first place in the NSIC North Division. The Golden Eagles continue to seek their first win in NSIC play.
 
UMC was led on the game by Ashton Harrell (Jr., G, Houston, Texas), who had 14 points, including 10 in the first half. Harrell was 4-of-10 for the game and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. James Sparkman (R-Jr., F, Ypsilanti, Mich.) added 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and Almir Krdzalic (Sr., G, Sioux Falls, S.D.) chipped in eight points and dished out seven assists.
 
The Golden Eagles finished the game shooting 19-of-54 from the field for 35.2 percent and were 5-of-17 for 29.4 percent from behind the three-point line. UMC was out-rebounded by the tune of 33 to 23 on the night as Northern State was led by six rebounds from both Collin Pryor and Mitch White. The Golden Eagles were led on the boards by five rebounds from Brandon Burns (Jr., F, Baton Rouge, La.).
 
Northern State shot 25-of-42 for the game for 59.5 percent and ended the game shooting 9-of-19 for 47.4 percent from trey. In the first half, the Wolves were only 2-of-8 from behind the three-point line as they hit seven threes in the second half. Five of those three-point shots came after the 10-minute mark passed in the second half.
 
Pryor led the Wolves with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Warwick added 11 points including three treys as he was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Warwick came into the game averaging only 4.6 points per game.
 
The two teams exchanged leads early on in the first half as no team led by more than three points until the Wolves used a 4-0 run with free throws and a lay-up from Pryor to go ahead by five (28-23) going into the break.
 
The story was much the same in the early second half as UMC quickly knotted the game up at 28-28 out of half-time after Sparkman hit a trey and Justin Rake (Sr. ,G, Petal, Miss.) hit a jumper. The two squads would be knotted up three more times with the last tie coming at the 14:29 mark following a Burns three-pointer to make it 37-37. Northern State was then able to get out to a six point lead after a three and a lay-in from Mitch White  but UMC was able to cut it to four points (48-44) following a Broderick Schmidt (Sr., F, Marion, S.D.) jumper with 10:52 remaining. That would be as close as the Golden Eagles would come for the rest of the game as the contest changed tunes going forward.
 
Northern State was able to go on an 11-0 run led by 3 three-pointers in the span of 1:30 beginning with a Jared Hannigan trey with 9:26 left. Warwick added two threes in the run while Hannigan also had a lay-up. The Wolves would continue to build on the 11-0 run as it would ignite them to the 19-point victory Friday as costly turnovers and missed shot would prove detrimental as well for UMC down the stretch.
 
The Golden Eagles will return to action at 6 p.m. versus Minnesota State University, Moorhead Sat., Jan. 26.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
 
Follow the Golden Eagles on Facebook at Golden Eagle Sports and on Twitter at @UMCAthletics.
 
The University of Minnesota, Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).
                                       
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