CROOKSTON, Minn. – A last-ditch three-pointer from Minnesota State University Moorhead's Ayob Ayob sunk the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team's upset bid 82-81 Friday at Lysaker Gymnasium. After a missed free throw, Ayob got the rebound and took it to mid-way between mid-court and the three-point line where he put up a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left that would fall to make it 82-81. The Golden Eagles would attempt to get the ball in bounds with 0.8 seconds remaining, but an Ayob steal sealed the win for the MSU Moorhead.

The Golden Eagles put together one of their best games during Dan Weisse's three years as head coach. UMC put it all on the line against one of the NSIC's top teams. A team that advanced to the NCAA tournament last season. Minnesota Crookston would finish the game shooting 50 percent from the field and 57.7 percent from beyond the arc as they tied the school record with 15 three-pointers. The mark was set in 2003 against University of Minnesota Morris. The Golden Eagles will look to take a lot of good notes from a strong performance against the Dragons as they continue to build the program into an NSIC contender.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 3-5 (0-3 NSIC) with the loss. MSU Moorhead moved to 8-1 (4-0 NSIC) with the win.

The Golden Eagles looked to Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who is the NSIC's leading scorer. Cleary continued his fantastic start to his young career with 22 points on 8-of-19 from the field. Cleary added five assists. Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) put together one of his best games of the season with 14 points, including 12 in the second half. He was 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Critchley added five assists on the night.

Jim Warmack (Jr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) also had a strong performance despite foul trouble. Warmack finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc as the big man showed his range on the night. Connor Gamble (R-Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.) would come off the bench for 12 points.

Gable Smith (R-So., F, Lodi, Wis.) did the little things on the night. He only had two points, but he came up big with six assists and 10 rebounds. His 10 rebounds came after his last game where he was unable to secure a board. He did a strong job of showing his ability as a rebounder.

MSU Moorhead was paced by the play of several bench players who stepped up after their starters struggled out of the gate. Addison Park led the way with 21 points and seven boards. Johnny Beeninga would add 14 points on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The team's leading scorer, Aaron Lien, was held to just two points in the first half. He would make his presence known with 12 second-half points to finish with 14. Ayob would finish with 17 points, including the game-winner.

MSU Moorhead went 32-of-57 for 56.1 percent from the field. The Dragons were 8-of-22 for 36.4 percent from behind the three-point line.

The Golden Eagles also did a strong job of limiting the shots for Tanner Kretchman, a double-figure scorer who finished with just five. He did a strong job of distributing the ball with five assists on the game.

Minnesota Crookston would be able to get out to an early 13-6 advantage on the Dragons after a Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) trey. MSU Moorhead would fight back into it as they got within three points with 9:13 left in the first as Park connected on the layup.

UMC would respond and would be able to extend their lead to 19-13 with a Gamble three-pointer. However, the Dragons again responded with a 9-0 run. They would take the lead 20-19 on a Beeninga trey. Park extended the advantage on a bucket with 7:09 left in the half.

UMC would come right back with a response as they took the lead back 23-22 on a Cleary basket.

MSU Moorhead would grab the lead right back though as Jon Doss made a lay-up, as did Park, to make it 26-23 with 5:30 left. UMC's Cleary would respond with a three to knot it up at 26-26 with just over fine minutes left in the first.

The two teams would stay within striking distance until UMC would finish the half on a 12-4 run. The Golden Eagles would go into the break ahead 40-32 on the Dragons.

Warmack would come out of the break with a big three-pointer to extend the UMC advantage to 43-32. The Dragons would come right back though and get within six points (45-39) on a basket from Park.

UMC would counter with a Cleary trey to push their lead back out to 48-39. MSU Moorhead would then go on a 12-2 run. They would take the lead on a Lien basket (51-50) with 14:15 left in the game.

The Golden Eagles wouldn't back down as they would take the 53-51 lead on a Warmack three-pointer.

The Dragons would then counter with another run, this time 7-0 to go up 58-53 with 12:11 remaining in the game.

UMC would come right back and be able to get within one point of their Red River Valley foes as Cleary hit a pair of free throws.

The Dragons would be able to keep the lead and extend their advantage out to six at 63-57 on a Lien basket.

But Minnesota Crookston would come right back again as three-pointers from Critchley and Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) catapulted the Golden Eagles to a 63-63 tie with 8:52 left.

The two foes would stay within striking distance of each other until UMC would push it out to a five-point advantage (76-71) on a Critchley three-pointer with 3:07 left.

The Dragons would keep on clawing away at the lead. They would be within one point (78-77) after a pair of Lien free throws with 24 seconds left.

MSU Moorhead would then send the Golden Eagles to the charity stripe. Gamble would hit a pair of free throws to make it 80-77 with 15 seconds remaining.

Kretchman would get a quick basket to make it 80-79 with seven seconds left. The Dragons again fouled Gamble. He would make the first, but miss the second. Ayob would take the rebound and dribble to what would turn into his launching point for his game-winning miracle shot as the Dragons would win.

Friday's contest pitted Head Coach Dan Weisse against former boss Chad Walthall. Weisse coached three years at MSU Moorhead and was a large part of building the Dragons into a successful program in the NSIC. Weisse is looking to take a page from what former mentors like Walthall and the likes of Bo Ryan have been able to do at MSU Moorhead and at Weisse's alma mater of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where Ryan was the coach before his ascent to the University of Wisconsin job.

Weisse and the Golden Eagles were able to show one of their biggest signs of turning the corner with Friday's performance against one of the NSIC's elite. Though the loss stings, UMC will look to rebound going into Saturday's game against Northern State at 6 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.