Box Score SUPERIOR, Wis. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team fell 81-79 to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls on a Brennan Witt jumper with two seconds remaining on the clock. The Golden Eagles overcame a 19-point half-time deficit and would tie the game up on a Chase Knickerbocker (Fr., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) three with 16 seconds remaining. But Witt's jumper would sink the comeback attempt as the Falcons would win the Championship Game of the Merrill Tompson Tip-Off Classic at Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium in Superior, Wis. The Golden Eagles finished the tournament in second place with a 1-1 overall mark.

The Golden Eagles wrap up non-conference play with a 2-2 record, while Wisconsin-River Falls improved to 2-2 with Saturday's win.

Derrick Redd, Jr. (Sr., G, Menifee, Calif.) continued his strong start to the season as he helped lead the second-half charge. Redd finished with 19 points on 8-of-14 from the field. He added four assists. Redd is averaging 17.3 points per game through the first four contests. Kobe Critchley (Fr., G, Roseville, Minn.) added 15 points on 6-of-10 from the field. Fellow freshman Nate Lorenz (Fr., F/C, Breckenridge, Minn.) chipped in 11 points, while Ben Grygiel (Jr., F, Rockford, Ill.) had 14 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

UMC was 30-of-59 for 50.8 percent for the game and were 9-of-23 for 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Wisconsin-River Falls was led by their two starters in the post. Jon Christensen had 27 points on 11-of-15 from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Christensen added eight rebounds. Garret Pearson chipped in 23 points on 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. He added seven rebounds. C.J. Lewis added 17 points.

The Falcons were 27-of-54 for 50 percent from the field and dominated from beyond the arc as they went 12-of-23 for 52.2 percent.

Wisconsin-River Falls would get out to a 24-14 lead early in the first half over the Golden Eagles led by 11 points from Christensen and 11 from Pearson. A lay-up from Xavier Hall (Jr., G, Woodbury, Minn.) and a three from Lorenz would pull UMC within 24-19 at the 10 minute mark. The Falcons would extend their lead to 35-23 after Lewis hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 5:32 left in the first half.

 Austin Moldenhauer would hit a trey to extend the Wisconsin-River Falls lead to 38-23 with 5:01 left in the first half. Moldenhauer would hit another three and get fouled and make the free throw to make it 42-23 with 2:52 left.

The Falcons would go into the break with a 45-26 lead over the Golden Eagles. UMC would be led by seven points from Critchley. Gable Smith (R-Fr., F, Lodi, Wis.) added five points in the first half. UMC was 11-of-28 for 39.3 percent in the first half and were 3-of-11 for 27.3 percent from beyond the arc in the first half.

Wisconsin-River Falls went 17-of-30 for 56.7 percent from the field in the first half and were 9-of-15 for 60 percent from beyond the arc. The Falcons were led by 16 points from Christensen on 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Pearson chipped in 13 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Lewis added nine points. Moldenhauer came off the bench for seven.

The Golden Eagles would out-score the Falcons 10-5 out of the gate to cut the deficit to 50-36 led by five points from Redd. UMC would cut their lead to 52-40 as Redd hit a lay-up with 17:02 left. The lead would be pushed out to 54-40 on a pair of Christensen free throws.

The Golden Eagles would cut the lead to 58-46 on a Redd free throw with 11:04 remaining. The Falcons would extend their lead to 64-49 as Isaac Castellano connected on three free throws.

The Golden Eagles would cut the lead back down to 69-57 with a Redd lay-in at the 4:46 mark. A pair of Lorenz free throws would cut the lead down to 69-59 with four minutes left in the game. Critchley would then make 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 69-60 with 3:35 left.

UMC would be able to cut the lead down to 69-67 with 3:04 left as they continued their run led by a Grygiel three-pointer and Grygiel dunk. Christensen would counter with a three-pointer to extend the Falcon lead to 72-67 with 2:42 remaining, but Redd would convert an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the lead to 72-71 with 2:28 left in the game. Lewis would extend the lead to 73-71 as he hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe for the Falcons.

Lewis would go to the line with one minute left and would connect on both shots to make it 75-51 with a minute left. Redd countered with a lay-up with 46 seconds left. Redd quickly fouled to send Lewis to the charity stripe. Lewis would again hit both free throws to make it 77-73 with 46 seconds left in the game.

The Golden Eagles would take a timeout and need a big shot, which they got from Grygiel, who hit a three-pointer to make it 77-76 with 39 second left in the game.
Pearson would hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 79-76 with 27 seconds left but Chase Knickerbocker (Fr., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) would come through in a big way as he hit a three-pointer to knot it up at 79-79 with 16 seconds left.

Wisconsin-River Falls would respond as Brennan Witt hit a jumper for the Falcons and put his team ahead 81-79 with two seconds remaining.

The Golden Eagles will open up conference play at 4 p.m. against rival Bemidji State University from 88 miles East on U.S. Highway 2.

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 a NCAA Division II university located in the Red River Valley of Northwest Minnesota. UMC sponsors 11 intercollegiate athletic teams with membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference (NSIC) and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). The NSIC is a 16-team conference with schools situated in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.
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