ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston would make a late comeback bid but early shooting struggles would leave them short as St. Cloud State University picked up the 70-63 win. The Golden Eagles fall to 6-7 (4-5 NSIC). St. Cloud State improved to 8-7 (4-5 NSIC) with Friday's win. The Golden Eagles defeated St. Cloud State earlier this season at Lysaker Gymnasium.
"We dug ourselves into a hole with how we shot the ball in the first half," said UMC head coach
Dan Weisse. "I am proud with how our guys battled and came back and made it a game in the second half, but it wasn't good enough. I hope our guys aren't satisfied, we had our chances but we need to be better against
Minnesota Duluth."
The Golden Eagles were led by another strong performance from
Kevin Larson (Sr., G, New Ulm, Minn./Sports and Rec Management), who has become one of UMC's go-to players. Larson had 14 points, two assists and three steals on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
Derrick Redd, Jr. (Jr., G, Menifee, Calif./Sports and Rec Management) added 14 points and three assists, while
John Hughes (Jr., F, San Diego, Calif./Management) had 11 points and six boards.
The Golden Eagles shot 19-of-51 for 37.3 percent from the field and 6-of-20 percent from beyond the arc.
St. Cloud State finished the game shooting 24-of-51 for 47.1 percent and 4-of-13 for 30.8 percent from behind the three-point line. The Huskies were led by Jordan Poydras, who had 27 points on 10-of-21 from the field. Eddie Alcantara added 14 points and nine boards, while Scottie Stone had 10 points and James Fort had 12 points.
Minnesota Crookston went into the half, down 31-19 to the Huskies. The Golden Eagles were led by Redd, who had six points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field. The Golden Eagles were 6-of-25 from the field for 24 percent from the field and 1-of-9 for 11.1 percent from three-point range. In addition to Redd, Hughes had three points, as did
Lucas Reller (Jr., G, Lead, S.D./Management) and
Jim Warmack (Fr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.)
St. Cloud State was paced by 10 points apiece from Poydras and Alcantara in the first half. The Huskies were 12-of-25 for 48 percent from the field and 1-of-3 for 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. They out-rebounded UMC 21-14 led by four rebounds from Poydras.
The Golden Eagles would cut into the deficit as Redd pounded home a dunk with just over 14 minutes left to make it 42-33, getting the lead down to single-digits. An Alcantara jumper would quickly make it 44-33. However, UMC would strike again with a deep Lubke trey to cut the lead to 44-36 with 12:20 remaining in the game, but Poydras would counter with a three of his own to make it 47-36 with 11:53 left.
The Golden Eagles would get back to single-digits as
Tyler West, Jr. (Sr., G/F, Portland, Ore./Communications) hit a pair of free throws to make it 47-38. However, Poydras would counter with free throws of his own to make it 49-38 with 9:36 left in the game.
The Golden Eagles would close to within 62-54 following a Hughes trey with 3:23 remaining. UMC would continue to eat away at the lead as Larson came away with a steal and a jumper in the lane to get within six at 64-58 with 1:40 left in the game. Kevin Levandoski would make 1-of-2 free throws to make it 65-58 with 1:07 left in the game.
A Larson three with 53.6 seconds remaining would the Golden Eagles within four at 65-61. Levandoski would make both to give the Huskies a 67-61 advantage with 52.3 seconds left. UMC would get the ball, but a charge from Redd would give the ball back to St. Cloud State. The Huskies would close out their win 70-63 as the two teams split the season series.
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).
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