Box Score Post-Game Interview with Jeff Oseth

CROOKSTON, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team hung with Minnesota State University Moorhead for 30 minutes of Saturday night's game before a 26-12 run in the final 10 minutes would deliver an 87-63 win over the Golden Eagles. Minnesota Crookston drops their 10th-straight in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play and falls to 4-12 (1-11 NSIC) with Saturday's loss. MSU Moorhead picks up the season sweep over the Golden Eagles and improves to 12-4 (8-4 NSIC) with the win. The Dragons are in a three-way tie for second in the NSIC North behind Bemidji State University.

The Golden Eagles shot the ball well Saturday as they went 25-of-55 for 45.5 percent. Derrick Redd (So., G, Menifee, Calif./Sports and Rec Management) ) had a career night for Minnesota Crookston with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 5-of-6 shooting from the free throw line. Giorgi Koguashvili (So., G, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia/Agricultural Business) provided a spark off the bench as he played perhaps his best game in the Maroon and Gold with nine points and three assists. Tim Lubke (Jr., G, St. Paul, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) added eight points for Minnesota Crookston.

UMC would shoot 5-of-14 for 35.7 percent from beyond the arc and 8-of-10 for 80 percent from the charity stripe.

What killed Minnesota Crookston were the offensive boards by the Dragons Saturday night. MSU Moorhead had 20 offensive rebounds to supplement their 23 defensive rebounds to finish with 43 total rebounds, 13 more than UMC's 30 rebounds Saturday night. Tarell Clark and Taylor Filipek led the Dragons with five offensive boards apiece. Filipek would lead the taem with 11 rebounds while Clark had nine boards.

MSU Moorhead was led on the night by Clark, who was one rebound short of a double-double with 28 points and nine boards. Clark was 10-of-16 from the field and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. He added three assists. Urbane Bingham chipped in 18 points, while Malik Wood came off the bench for 14 points and four assists.

The Dragons shot 31-of-68 for 45.6 percent and connected on 10 treys out of 24 attempts for 41.7 percent. They struggled from the foul line, connecting on just 15-of-25 attempts for 60 percent. 

MSU Moorhead would open Saturday's game on an 8-0 run led by treys from Bingham and Vaughn. The Golden Eagles would quickly get back in the fray though as they cut the lead to 9-8 following a John Hughes (So., F, Tualatin, Ore./Management) tip-in with 16:06 remaining in the half.

The Dragons would stretch their lead to 23-12 after a 7-0 run led by an Aaron Lien three-pointer. However the Golden Eagles would not go away as they cut the deficit to six points (26-20) following a Redd jumper with 5:31 left in the half. A Lien lay-in would push the Dragons back out to a nine-point advantage with 4:13 remaining.

The Golden Eagles would again cut into the lead, getting MSU Moorhead's advantage down to three following a Redd lay-in with 2:36 left.

A 5-0 run led by five points from Clark would finish out the half for the Dragons to give them a 36-28 lead at the break.

UMC was led in the first half by 13 points from Redd while Hughes chipped in seven. UMC shot just 10-of-27 for 37.0 percent from the field with Redd going 4-of-6.

MSU Moorhead was paced by Clark's 14 points and seven boards at the break. The Dragons shot 13-of-32 for 40.6 percent and were 5-of-13 for 38.5 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Golden Eagles would hang within striking distance of MSU Moorhead for the first 10 minutes of the second half. MSU Moorhead would extend their lead to 13 at the 17:31 mark of the secodn frame following a Tyler Vaughan lay-in but a Kevin Larson (Jr., G, New Ulm, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) lay-in at the 15:05 mark would get UMC back to within nine.

A Filipek lay-up at the 14:19 mark for the Dragons would make it 55-43 MSU Moorhead, but yet again the Golden Eagles were able to cut it to eight at the 13:21 mark following back-to-back Redd baskets. After MSU Moorhead stretched it to 11 with a Wood three, a Redd basket would cut it to a nine-point advantage (58-49) and that would be as close as UMC would get for the rest of the game as UMC's second-half struggles set in.

MSU Moorhead would go on a 12-2 run guided by three-pointers from Wood and Lien to stretch their lead to 70-51 with 8:01 left in the game.

The Dragons would dominate the rest of the way, as they came away with an 87-63 victory over UMC.

The Golden Eagles will now open up a four-game road trek beginning with games against Minot State University and University of Mary next weekend.

 For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website 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).