DULUTH, Minn. – A 15-4 run in the second half, along with missed free throws down the stretch, helped lead University of Minnesota Duluth to a 75-67 win over the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team. The Golden Eagles would make a late charge and get the game to a seven-point deficit down the stretch but missed free throws would help the Bulldogs to a win. 

"Our inability to get stops at the key moments was disappointing tonight," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "We pride ourselves on our defense and that has been letting us down lately. It is something I think we will definitely get better at. The guys know that if you are going to win games you need to get stops. If you score the ball really well and can't get stops defensively, it doesn't really matter. We did a better job at preventing offensive rebounds then we did last night. We did give up 13 second-chance points and in an eight-point game that could have been the difference between a win and loss. We will look to make adjustments this week and hopefully correct some things going into Friday."

Minnesota Duluth was focused on getting post touches on the night and they did just that as three of their interior players combined for 43 points on the night for the Bulldogs. UMC would give up 40 points in the paint and 13 second-chance points.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 3-4 (0-2 NSIC) with the loss. Minnesota Duluth improved to 1-5 (1-1 NSIC) with Saturday's win.

Minnesota Crookston was led by the play of Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who would continue his great start to the season with 25 points on 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Jim Warmack (Jr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) added eight points, while Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) had seven points and three assists. Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) would add six points and seven boards. He had four offensive rebounds. 

The Golden Eagles would shoot 26-of-60 for 43.3 percent. They were 7-of-24 for 29.2 percent form beyond the arc. They struggled at the charity stripe going 8-of-15 for 53.3 percent.

Minnesota Duluth was led by their play in the post. Luke Harris came off the bench for 16 points and seven boards on 6-of-9 from the field. Brandon Myer had 15 points and six boards, while Sean Burns had 12 points. 

Logan Rohrscheib would come off the bench for 12. The Bulldogs out-rebounded UMB 37-33. They had 11 offensive board. UMD was 28-of-58 for 48.3 percent from the field. They shot 28-of-58 for 48.3 percent from the field. UMD was just 5-of-16 for 31.3 percent from beyond the arc. They struggled at the charity stripe, as well, going just 14-of-22 for 63.6 percent. They were able to connect on six more attempts than UMC, which would help make up the difference.

The Bulldogs would go up 4-0 out of the gate after a Trevor Entwisle lay-up. UMC would be able to even it up at 4-4 on a Warmack bucket. The two sides would stay within three points for the next few minutes until UMD used a 7-0 run to push their advantage out to 19-11 on a Luke Harris bucket. A Josh Washburn three would be able to extend the Bulldog advantage to 22-13 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. The Bulldogs would be able to push their lead out to 13 (29-16) on a Rohrscheib lay-up.

Minnesota Crookston would be able to eat away at the lead to get it to seven (32-25) on a Johnson lay-up. However, UMD would answer with a three-pointer from Rohrscheib.

The Golden Eagles would then use a 9-0 run to get within one of the Bulldogs (35-34) after Critchley went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. UMC's run was paced by five points from Cleary and four Critchley. 

The Bulldogs would end the half on a strong note as they went up 40-36 on a pair of Brandon Myer free throws. 

Minnesota Crookston was led in the first half by 15 points from Cleary on 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Johnson would come off the bench for four points and three rebounds.

The Golden Eagles were 15-of-32 from the field for 46.9 percent. They struggled beyond the arc, going just 4-of-13 for 30.8 percent. UMC had strong ball control as they had nine assists to just three turnovers. Critchley and Xavier Hall (Sr., G, Woodbury, Minn.) each had three assists. 

Minnesota Duluth looked to 11 first-half points from Myer on 3-of-5 from the field. Rohrscheib came off the bench for eight.

The Bulldogs were 15-of-32 for 46.9 percent from the field. They were 4-of-8 for 50 percent from beyond the arc. 

UMD would push their lead out to six points early in the first half (44-38) after a Kyle Schalow lay-up. 

Minnesota Crookston would be able to get the advantage down to two (44-42) led by a three from Knickerbocker with 16:28 remaining.

UMD bounced right back though with buckets from Burns and Charles Benson to push their lead to 48-42. The advantage would be pushed out to eight (50-42) by the Bulldogs on a Burns lay-in with 12:52 remaining.

The Golden Eagles would then put together a 9-2 run culminating with a Cleary old-fashioned three-point play to get UMC within 52-51 with 10:14 left in the half. A Trenton Krueger lay-up would extend the UMD lead to 54-51, but UMC would come right back as Cleary tallied a lay-up to get UMC back within one (54-53) with 8:02 remaining in the game.

UMD would be able to take a little bit of control in the game as they got the lead out to 69-57 with a 15-4 run. 

The Golden Eagles would respond with a clutch Gamble three-pointer to get back within nine points (69-60) with three minutes remaining in the game. Rohrscheib would hit two big free throws to push the lead back to 11.

Cleary would again come up big for UMC with a clutch three to get the Golden Eagles back within eight at 71-63 with 1:41 left in the game.

After a steal from Cleary, he would be fouled where he would go to the charity stripe. The stand-out freshman would go 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to get within 71-64 with 55 seconds left in the contest.

Rohrscheib would be fouled by UMC, where he would go 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it 72-64 with 50 seconds remaining in the game.

UMC would get a look at a shot, but a block from Myer would prevent UMC from cutting into the lead any more. They would be forced to foul again, sending Washburn to the line. Washburn would hit 1-of-2 with 30 seconds left to make it 73-64. 

The Bulldogs would then get a jump ball on the other end to give it back to them. Rohrscheib would again go to the line where he would miss both keeping the score at 73-64.

Cleary would earn his way to the line on the other end where he would go 1-of-2 to get UMC within 73-65 with 18 seconds left in the game. 

UMC would foul Schalow, sending him to the line. He would hit both free throws to all but ice the game. Knickerbocker would get two more points for the Golden Eagles, but it would be too little for UMC as they fell 75-67. 

Minnesota Crookston will return home for a pair of games next weekend. Their slate starts Fri., Dec. 9 as they take on Minnesota State University Moorhead at 8 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.