Box Score ST. CLOUD, Minn. - A run at the end of the first half catapulted St. Cloud State University past University of Minnesota Crookston 78-66 despite a late charge in the second half. The Golden Eagles out-scored St. Cloud State 42-36 in the second half. Minnesota Crookston falls to 4-21 (1-20 NSIC) with Friday's loss. The Golden Eagles have lost 19 straight. St. Cloud State improves to 18-7 (14-7 NSIC) with the victory.

Derrick Redd, Jr. (So., G, Menifee, Calif./Sports and Rec Management) led the Golden Eagles with an impressive game. Redd finished with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including connecting on 2-of-3 treys. Redd had 17 points in the second half. Brandon Burns (Sr., F, Baton Rouge, La./Sports and Rec Management) added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. John Hughes (So., F, Tualatin, Ore./Management) tallied eight points off of the bench for Minnesota Crookston.

The Golden Eagles shot 26-of-51 for 51.0 percent for the game and were 5-of-14 for 35.7 percent from beyond the arc. St. Cloud State narrowly out-rebounded UMC 34-30.

The Huskies were paced by four players who tallied double-figure scoring. Jordan Poydras led the way with 16 points while former UMC player Damarius Cruz had 12 points and Matt Craggs had 13. Seth Mortag chipped in 11. St. Cloud State was 30-of-62 for 48.4 percent from the field and 9-of-26 for 34.6 percent from beyond the arc.

St. Cloud State went into the half with a 42-24 advantage on Minnesota Crookston after closing the first period off with a 14-6 run. The Golden Eagles were within 10 at 30-20 with 4:49 following a Kevin Larson (Jr., G, New Ulm, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) lay-up. The Huskies were led at the end of the half by the play of Craggs with six points down the stretch.

The Golden Eagles were led in the first half by six points apiece from Tyler West, Jr. (Jr., F, Portland, Ore./Communications), Redd an Burns. Redd made 3-of-6 attempts from the field. West was 3-of-4 from the field. Minnesota Crookston was 11-of-28 from the field for 39.3 percent and just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc in the half. St. Cloud State out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 22-17 in the period.

St. Cloud State looked to Craggs in the first half with 11 points and six rebounds. Niehaus added seven points and five rebounds off of the bench, while Cruz had six points. The Huskies had a strong first half from the field, shooting 17-of-34 for 50 percent and 5-of-14 for 35.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The Huskies would get out to an early 11-5 advantage but the Golden Eagles would close to within 12-11 at the 13:45 mark as Redd connected on a jumper. With a three from Cruz and a jumper from Mortag, St. Cloud State would extend their advantage to 18-11 at the 11:55 mark of the first half. The Huskies would extend their advantage to 23-13 on a Connor Niehaus trey at the 9:47 mark of the half. UMC would get back to within seven at 25-18 at the 7;22 mark as West hit a bucket, but that would be as close as UMC would get for the rest of the half, as the Huskies closed out the half on a 17-6 run.

St. Cloud State would continue their momentum into the second half as they extended their lead to 26 following a Poydras three at the 12:37 mark to make it 62-36. However from there, UMC would start their climb to make a final push. The Golden Eagles would go on a 17-4 run over the next six minutes to cut the advantage to 66-53 at the 6:38 mark following a Burns lay-in. UMC was led on the run by the strong play of Redd, who had six points during the run.

The Huskies would get a big trey from Poydras at the 4:57 mark to make it 69-53. However, four-straight points for the Golden Eagles would get them to within 12 points at 69-57 at the 4:10 mark of the second half. A Poydras free throw would push the Huskies out to a 72-57 advantage with 3:20 remaining. However, UMC would not go away as Giorgi Koguashvili (Jr., G, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia/Ag Business) made a pair of free throws followed by a pair of free throw makes from Burns to cut the lead back to 11 at the 3:06 mark. After a Burns steal and a timeout, UMC had a chance to get within single digits but would miss a three attempt and Craggs would get a lay-in to push it back to a 74-61 lead with 1:51 remaining in the half. The Huskies would hang on despite the Golden Eagles' late push, taking the 78-66 win over Minnesota Crookston.

The game was the second-to-last regular-season home game for Kevin Schlagel, the head coach for St. Cloud State University, who will hang it up after the season concludes. Schlagel has been the head coach for the Huskies for St. Cloud State, but was also an assistant coach under Butch Raymond and a player for the Huskies.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website 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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