Box Score CROOKSTON, Minn. – The shoe fit the Cinderella University of Minnesota, Crookston Golden Eagles  perfectly Friday night as Ashton Harrell's (Jr., G, Houston, Texas) career-high 29 points helped to catapult UMC to an 80-77 win over No. 22 St. Cloud State University. The victory ends UMC's 21-game losing streak and is the first-ever for the Golden Eagles over the Huskies, a rivalry that has been strong since the Golden Eagles became a four-year school in the mid 1990's.
 
UMC improves to 4-21 (1-20 NSIC) while St. Cloud State drops to 19-6 (15-6 NSIC). The Golden Eagles came into the game in eighth place in the NSIC North standings while St. Cloud State was No. 1 in the NSIC North. UMC had yet to get a win in the NSIC win column on the season. The Golden Eagles fell 79-55 to then-No. 14 St. Cloud State Dec. 8 at Halenbeck Hall.
 
Harrell would lead the Golden Eagles with a high by any player for UMC this season with 29 points on 8-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Harrell took the game into his own hands from the onset of Friday night's contest. UMC would finish the game shooting 25-of-49 for 51.0 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles were on fire from downtown on the night as they drained 10-of-19 for 52.6 percent led by Harrell's four treys. Justin Rake (G, Petal, Miss.) a senior playing his second-to-last game at Lysaker Gymnasium, put a dominant performance on during Friday's game as he put in 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Almir Krdzalic (Sr., G, Sioux Falls, S.D.) would join his fellow senior in double figures as he put in 10 points on the game.
 
UMC was narrowly out-rebounded 32-30 on the game. St. Cloud State was paced by seven boards from Connor Niehaus and James Fort. The Golden Eagles were led on the glass by six rebounds from Krdzalic while Brandon Burns (Jr., F, Baton Rouge, La.) chipped in five.
 
St. Cloud State was without star Theo Rothstein for the second-straight game. Damarius Cruz, a former UMC player who transferred to St. Cloud State. Cruz tallied 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc. Nash Faulk, who came in averaging under four points per game, finished with 14 points and six rebounds while Shaun Jensen chipped in 10 points. The Huskies shot 27-of-61 for 44.3 percent from the field and five-of-20 for 25.0 percent from beyond the arc.
 
The Golden Eagles controlled play from the start of the game Friday as they would find themselves ahead 20-10 at the 9:21 mark of the first half led by six points from Rake and four from Broderick Schmidt (Sr., F, Marion, S.D.). The Huskies would cut it to 22-12 after two Tim Bergstraser free throws but UMC would keep the pedal on the metal as a jumper from Harrell and a three from Tim Lubke (So., G, St. Paul, Minn.) would make it 27-12 at the 6:37 mark. Five more points from Harrell would widen the lead even more so as the Golden Eagles would lead 32-13 with 5:27 left in the half.
 
The Huskies would make a late run in the second half to cut it to 40-28 at the break led by five points from Cruz, four from Fort and four from Faulk.
 
Despite a strong first half, the opening period wasn't without its bad news as James Sparkman (R-Jr, F, Ypsilanti, Mich.) screamed in pain as he was going to the hoop with the ball. Sparkman suffered an injury that would see him go the training room and return in street clothes for the second half.
 
In the second half, the Golden Eagles would get their lead out to 14 at the 18:10 mark following a Krdzalic lay-up. The Huskies would respond as they cut the UMC advantage to nine at the 16:20 mark following a Bergstraser lay-in. But the Golden Eagles themselves responded to get the lead back out to 14 with 14:40 left in the second after another Krdzalic lay-up. The Huskies would again cut it 10 with 13:09 remaining but another UMC run using a three from Lubke and a fastbreak lay-up from Rake would make the advantage 16 (60-44) with 11:22 remaining in the game.
 
The Golden Eagles would remain ahead by double-digits with an 11-point lead following a Tomas Parker (So., C, Pequot Lakes, Minn.) free throw with 3:24 left. Things suddenly got interesting after that as a Faulk lay-up and jumper would cut it to a seven point lead with 2:02 remaining. A lay-up by Rake put UMC back ahead by nine with 1:46 remaining but the Huskies wouldn't go away. Former Golden Eagle Cruz drained a trey to make it 72-66 with 1:14 remaining.
 
The Golden Eagles would get back ahead by eight after Harrell drilled his two free throws with 1:08 remaining but the Huskies would remain relentless as Jensen hit a jumper to cut it to six points with 59 seconds left. Harrell again hit his free throw to get it out to an eight-point lead but a three from Niehaus would cut it to five with 40 seconds left.
 
After two missed free throws from Harrell, Faulk would hit two free throws of his own to make it 76-73 with 34 seconds left. The Huskies would would subsequently foul Lubke, who hit one-of-two to put UMC ahead by four. A lay-up by Jensen would make it a two-point deficit. St. Cloud State again fouled, sending Krdzalic to the line where he would hit one-of-two to put UMC ahead by three but a quick Jensen lay-up would cut it to one with 12 seconds left. The Huskies would foul UMC senior Rake, who was clutch in the final seconds, hitting both of his free throws to make it 80-77. The Huskies would miss threes from Faulk and Niehaus in the final seconds as the Golden Eagles hung on for the major upset of the ranked St. Cloud State University Huskies.
 
The University of Minnesota, Crookston will return to Lysaker Gymnasium tomorrow at 6 p.m. against University of Minnesota Duluth. It will be senior night for the Golden Eagles as they will honor Krdzalic, Abdou Naing (Sr., F, Dakar, Senegal) and Schmidt prior to Saturday's game.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics Web site at www.goldeneaglesports.com.


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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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