CROOKSTON, Minn. – An 11-0 run to begin the second half to catapult Upper Iowa University past the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team Fri., Jan. 29 at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles went into the half up 31-27 led by 22 rebounds in the first half, but Upper Iowa would out-score Minnesota Crookston 45-31 in the second half to come away with the 72-62 win.

The Golden Eagles fall to 3-16 (1-14 NSIC) with Friday's loss, while the Peacocks improve to 12-12 (8-7 NSIC) with the win.

"The first half was pretty good overall, I was happy with that," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "The second half they came out with a lot more energy than we did. They put some pressure on us and we didn't handle it very well. We played on our heels and they played in attack mode. Then we started playing their game. We can't shoot 35 threes against this team. We needed to keep attacking and we stopped doing that and that is when they got their lead."

UMC was led by Derrick Redd, Jr. (Sr., G, Menifee, Calif./Sports and Rec Management), who finished with 16 points and five rebounds on 6-of-12 from the field. Redd moved past 800 points in his career with the 16 points Friday. The Golden Eagles also had a strong performance from the bench as they got 28 bench points led by 12 points and six boards from Ben Grygiel (Jr., F, Rockford, Ill./Business Management). Chase Knickerbocker (Fr., G/F, Annandale, Minn./Business Finance) added six points, as did A.J. Walton (R-Fr., G/F, Oak Hills, Calif./Business), who had six points and six boards off the bench. C.J. Polk (So., G, Milwaukee, Minn./Business Management) added 11 points and seven boards.

The Golden Eagles struggled from the field, going 22-of-66 for 33.3 percent. They also struggled from beyond the arc going 9-of-35 for 25.7 percent. From the charity stripe UMC was 9-of-11 for 81.8 percent.

UMC had one of their best game of the season on the boards as they out-rebounded Upper Iowa 42-41, including having 16 offensive boards led by four from Walton.

"It was good to see that we out-rebounded them," Weisse said. "I think that is the first time this year that we have done that. Our posts have to post up stronger and our guards have to be stronger with the ball."

Upper Iowa looked to 15 points from Josh Weeber on 6-of-12 from the field. Jernell Hughes added 14 points and seven boards, while Carson Parker had 11 points and seven boards and Jimmy Roth had 10 points and six boards.

The Peacocks were 26-of-57 for 45.6 percent from the field. They struggled from beyond the arc going 3-of-12 for 25 percent and were 17-of-26 for 65.4 percent from the charity stripe.

UMC would get out to a quick 16-7 lead after Knickerbocker nailed a three from the wing with 12:34 left in the first half. Upper Iowa would respond going on a 9-0 run and tying up the game on a Roth lay-in with 9:29 left in the half.

The Golden Eagles would be able to get their lead back and push it out to seven points following a Redd trey with seven minutes left in the half. UMC would have their lead at six with 1:16 left in the first period but a Dennis Austin lay-up would put the Peacocks within four (31-27) with 1:02 left in the frame.

Upper Iowa came out of the locker room on fire led by their first play of the half as Weeber got an old-fashioned three-point play to put the Peacocks within one (31-30). The 11-0 run would continue, culminating with a Roth three-pointer to make it 40-31 with 16:31 left in the game.

UMC would cut the deficit to five with 12:21 left as Grygiel hit a trey for the Golden Eagles. However, Upper Iowa would get the lead back out to 10 led by a pair of Hughes free throws with 10:14 left in the game. The Golden Eagles would only get as close as eight the rest of the way as Upper Iowa used their positive momentum early in the half to carry them through to a 72-62 win.

The Golden Eagles will host Winona State University Sat., Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

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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.