MANKATO, Minn.- The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team saw their 2014-15 season come to a close with a 83-52 loss to Minnesota State University, Mankato. UMC was the seven-seed and Minnesota State the second-seed in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. The Golden Eagles end the season with a 7-20 mark overall with five conference wins, the best the team has had since the 2000-01 season. UMC was in their first season under Head Coach Dan Weisse as they begin to build the program.

Minnesota State improves to 23-6 and will play St. Cloud State University in the quarterfinals of the
tournament.

The Golden Eagles were led by Tyler West, Jr. (Sr., G/F, Portland, Ore./Communications). The senior had 12 points on the evening. In addition, fifth-year senior Tim Lubke (Sr., G, St. Paul, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) went out with a good performance with 11 points, including going 3-of-4 beyond the arc. Another senior Kevin Larson (G, New Ulm, Minn./Sports and Rec Management) finished with eight points and three assists.

UMC was without Derrick Redd, Jr. (Jr., G, Menifee, Calif./Sports and Rec Management), their leading scorer who suffered a foot injury during Saturday's regular-season finale.

The Golden Eagles were 18-of-50 from the field for 36 percent and were 6-of-18 for 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Minnesota State was led by Zach Monaghan,who had 23 points and four assists. Monaghan was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Connor Miller chipped in 14 points and five assists and was 3-of-4 beyond the arc. Assem Marei finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Mavericks shot 33-of-57 for 57.9 percent from the field and were 10-of-23 for 43.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Wednesday's loss ends the careers for six seniors for the Golden Eagles with Lubke, West, Larson, Tomas Parker (Sr., F/C, Pequot Lakes, Minn./Management), Lucas Reller (Sr., G, Lead, S.D./Management) and Sam Howell (Sr., G, Seattle, Wash./Sports and Rec Management). The six seniors bought into the new scheme of Coach Weisse and helped the Golden Eagles to their best conference season since 2000-01 and brought excitement to a program that had struggled to generate excitement in recent years. The 2015-16 team will be a relatively untested one but has currently brought in five heralded recruits from the state of Minnesota.

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).