CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team came within one possession of upending the NSIC South Division's Co-Leader Southwest Minnesota State University Fri., Jan. 13 at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston, Minn. The Golden Eagles would ultimately lose the contest 77-74 to the Mustangs.

A missed front-end of a one-and-one by Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) with 12 seconds remaining hurt the hearts of the University of Minnesota Crookston faithful. The Golden Eagles had an opportunity to at least knot the game up at 73-73 with probably only one more Southwest Minnesota State possession remaining. Instead, SMSU would go to the other end and get free throws from Ryan Bruggeman with eight seconds remaining.

 A foul by Drew Osmundson would give UMC hope with five seconds left as Cleary went to the charity stripe and hit two this time to get the Golden Eagles within one (75-74). UMC would quickly foul Bruggeman again. The Mustang point guard would hit two free throws to make it 77-74 with less than five seconds remaining. UMC would get one last shot but Connor Gamble's (R-Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.) three-point attempt would miss.

The Golden Eagles fall to 6-11 (2-9 NSIC). UMC has lost three games that came down to the last possession (Minnesota State University Moorhead, Bemidji State University and Southwest Minnesota State). They have also won two games that came down to the last possession (Bemidji State and St. Cloud State). The young Golden Eagle squad is so close to having a better mark, but continue to show signs of vast improvement especially with their performances in recent games such as Friday night's and last Saturday's win over St. Cloud State.

SMSU moves to 14-2 (9-2 NSIC) with their victory over the Golden Eagles.

The Mustangs did a prolific job at shutting down UMC leading scorer Cleary, who is the second in the NSIC in scoring. Cleary would finish with 10 points, but four of those came from the charity stripe. He was just 3-of-8 from the field on the night. The SMSU defense did not give the UMC freshman much space the work the entire evening.

Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) stepped up and continued his strong play of late building off of his second-half performance against the Beavers on Tuesday. Knickerbocker would finish with 23 points and eight boards on 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Perhaps the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the night was senior Riley Rice (Sr., F/C, Mullen, Neb.), who has been a spot player off of the bench for Head Coach Dan Weisse. With Jim Warmack (Jr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) and Gable Smith (R-So., F, Lodi, Wis.) in foul trouble, Rice was called upon for 19 big minutes off of the bench. The senior would provide energy and rebounding, along with crucial three-point shooting down the stretch. He would finish with 12 points on 4-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Rice added five boards on the night.

Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) would do a strong job of moving the ball for UMC as he finished with 10 assists, tying the school record previously set by Tryg Spilde and teammate Xavier Hall (Sr., G, Woodbury, Minn.). 

Critchley would chip in eight points. He had just one turnover on the night.

The Golden Eagles would finish the night going 24-of-55 from the field for 43.6 percent. They were 13-of-25 from beyond the arc for 52.0 percent. UMC shot just 13-of-21 for 61.9 percent from the charity stripe.

The Mustangs would have four players finish in double figures. Carter Kirk would lead SMSU with his play in the post as he finished with a double-double of 15 points and 12 boards. Mitch Weg would chip in 17 points and eight points. Joey Bartlett came off the bench for 10 points and seven boards. The SMSU inside game would be vital in their win as they had 40 points in the paint. The Mustangs would also out-rebound the Golden Eagles 42-29.

Bruggeman would chip in 16 points and five assists from his point guard slot.

The Mustangs shot 28-of-61 for 45.9 percent from the field. They were just 4-of-14 for 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. SMSU won the game with their foul shooting as they were 17-of-22 for 77.3 percent on the night.

SMSU would get out to a quick 7-0 lead following a Bartlett trey. UMC would climb back into the fray as they cut the lead to 14-10 after a Cleary jumper with 14:14 left in the first half. UMC would continue to piece away at the Mustangs and get pull within two points as Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 10:46 remaining in the first half.

The Mustangs would then go on a 6-0 run to push their advantage out to 27-19. They would get their lead out to as many as nine points with 6:23 left in the half. That is when UMC would go on a 9-0 run and would tie it up on a pair of Knickerbocker free throws. Much of UMC's run was done with several reserves in the game, including Rice and Darin Viken (Fr., G, Fosston, Minn.) who provided crucial energy and who did a great job of moving off of the ball and setting screens for their teammates.

SMSU would squad the run as Bartlett hit a pair of free throws to make it 30-29 with 3:05 left. The Mustangs would be able to push their lead out to 34-29 with a Weg basket with 2:17 remaining.

UMC would respond and get within two points on a Rice trey with 1:15 left in the game. They would go into the break down three (37-34).

The Mustangs would open the second half with a basket from K.J. Davis. But UMC would strike right back and get within 39-38 after a Smith bucket with 18:01 remaining in the game. Minnesota Crookston would then take the lead 41-39 on a Knickerbocker three-pointer.

The Mustangs would respond with a 5-0 run to tilt the game back in their favor after a layup from Weg and a three from Turner Moen made it 44-41 with 16:19 left in the contest. SMSU would then be able to push out the lead to 48-41 with less than 15 minutes remaining.

UMC would be able to cut the advantage to four (51-47) after a bucket from Smith with 11:14 left in the game. SMSU would again respond as Weg got a pair of crucial buckets to make it 55-47.

Minnesota Crookston would piece away at the lead and would get it down to 57-54 as Johnson nailed a rare three-pointer with 8:23 left in the game. SMSU would respond on the other end with a bucket from Weg, but UMC came right back with a three-pointer from Connor Gamble (R-Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.) to get within 59-57 with 7:53 remaining.

The Mustangs would respond with a 4-0 run led by a Davis fast-break layup to make it 63-57. UMC would respond with back-to-back buckets from Cleary for a little 4-0 run of their own to again pull within two points with 5:16 remaining.

Southwest Minnesota State would push their lead out to five points as Bruggeman got a layup with 4:28 remaining. That is when Rice would heat up with a trey to make it 66-64. A pair of Bruggeman free throws would make it 68-64, but Rice would strike with another three-pointer to cut it to 68-67 with 2:45 remaining.

A Michael Lee three-pointer would put the Mustangs up 71-67 with 2:15 left. However, once again the senior from the "Cornhusker State" would nail another three-pointer to pull within one point (71-70) with 1:55 remaining.

A jumper by Bruggeman with 56 seconds left would make it 73-70 in favor of the Mustangs. UMC would respond with a pair of Cleary free throws to pull within one point with 42 seconds left.

After a defensive stop and a big rebound by Rice, UMC would be fouled, but Cleary would miss the front-end of the one-and-one to force the Golden Eagles to foul.

 Bruggeman would come up big with four free throws down the stretch and Gamble would miss a three-point attempt as the Golden Eagles fell short despite a strong performance.

Minnesota Crookston will look to rebound as they take on University of Sioux Falls Sat., Jan. 14 at 6 p.m.