CROOKSTON, Minn. – Harrison Cleary hit four free throws down the stretch to send the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team to a 73-69 win over University of Jamestown. Cleary had a big second half with 21 of his 23 points on the night coming after the break.

The Golden Eagles would get big nights down low from Gable Smith (R-So., F, Lodi, Wis.) and Jim Warmack (Jr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.). Smith had his second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-7 from the field. He also had two blocks on the night. Warmack would tally a career-high 16 points on 8-of-10 from the field. He added four boards for the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 3-2 on the season. The Golden Eagles will play an exhibition Nov. 30 against NCAA Division I opponent South Dakota State University before opening up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play Dec. 2 at St. Cloud State University. The Golden Eagles avenge last season's exhibition loss to the Jimmies with the win. Jamestown falls to 2-5 with Tuesday's loss.

The Golden Eagles would go 26-of-62 from the field for 41.9 percent. They shot just 6-of-21 for 28.6 percent from beyond the arc and were 15-of-22 for 68.2 percent from the charity stripe. They did a good job moving the ball around as they had 14 assists to 10 turnovers and had assists on 14 of their 26 made baskets.

Cleary would continue his strong start to the season with 23 on 6-of-12 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. He is averaging 21.6 points per game on the season. Cleary would rebound in the second half after a tough start to the game as he was just 1-of-3 from the field with two points in the first half.

Warmack and Smith would be crucial in the first half for UMC. Warmack would have 10 points on 5-of-7 from the field, while Smith had nine points, five rebounds and two blocks in the first half.
Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) would struggle from the field, going 2-of-13 from the field, but he would finish with seven points and did a great job distributing the ball with five assists. Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) added five points.

Jamestown would go 21-of-55 from the field for 38.2 percent. The Jimmies were 10-of-24 for 41.7 percent from beyond the arc and 17-of-19 for 89.5 percent from the free-throw line. They were ignited by the play off the bench from Christian Kvilvang, who had 13 points on 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Roseville-native Logan Brown also had a big night with 18 points, including going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Jacob Havron would add 10 points and seven boards, while Jake Hagler had nine points and four assists.

The Jimmies would have an early 8-7 advantage on the Golden Eagles after Brown nailed a pair of free throws with 14:52 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles would go on a 6-0 run led by four points from Smith.

Jamestown would be able to get back to within one points at 15-14 with 11:05 left as Riley Henderson hit the trey. The Golden Eagles would go on 9-1 run from there led by five points from Smith as UMC had the 23-15 advantage with 7:47 left in the first half.

Jamestown would not go away as they continued to cut into the lead. They would go on a 15-7 run for the remainder of the opening half as UMC would lead just 31-30 going into the break.
The Golden Eagles would go on a 13-4 run to open the second half as Cleary, Smith and Knickerbocker all hit treys to catapult UMC out of the break.

However, UMC continued to keep the door open as Jamestown would be down just five (51-46) with 10:49 left in the game after a Kvilvang three.

The Golden Eagles would respond with a Cleary jumper and a Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) tip to lead 55-46 with 9:57.

But the Jimmies would stay in the game as Hagler had four points to get Jamestown within 55-52 with 7:56 remaining.

Cleary would have seven-consecutive points to respond to the Jimmies to make it 62-52 with 6:18 left in the game. A Warmack lay-up would extend the advantage to 64-52 with 5:41 left.
The Jimmies kept on chipping away as they would get within four (67-63) after a pair of free throws for Kiwane Crowder with 39 seconds left. A quick foul would send Connor Gamble (R-Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.) to the line where he would hit two to make it 69-63.

Jamestown would not give in as Brown hit a crucial three to get the Jimmies within 69-66 with 23 seconds remaining. After another quick foul, Cleary would come up big from the charity stripe to make it 71-66. Hagler would miss the three on the other end of the court, but Jamestown would stay in it with two misses from the charity stripe from Smith.

The Jimmies would get another crucial trey from Brown to make it 71-69 with seven seconds remaining. But Cleary would again come through in the clutch as the freshman drained two free throws to help send UMC to the 73-69 win.

The victory helps UMC already match their win total from 2015-16 with three wins. The Golden Eagles will look to continue to build on the momentum as they continue to gain more experience as a young squad with 12 underclassmen.

The Golden Eagles take on South Dakota State in an exhibition Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in Brookings, S.D.