MINOT, N.D. –  The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team would be unable to shut down Tyler Rudolph, who finished with 33 points, as Minot State University picked up an 84-72 win at the MSU Dome. The Golden Eagles would pull within three points to open the second half, but Minot State would be able to control the game the rest of the way as they came away with the victory.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 6-14 (2-12 NSIC) with the loss. Minot State moved to 10-10 (6-8 NSIC) with Saturday's victory. The Golden Eagles are looking to get back on track after losing the last five games, despite battling in all five games.

"Our challenge to the guys is to keep getting better," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "I didn't think our guys played a full 40 minutes tonight. We are doing some good things as a team. The main thing that is lacking with us right now is defense. If we can figure out how to defend and how to better understand scouting reports, we are going to be okay. The good news is that I really believe our guys are buying in and we are getting better, but we just have to improve in some of those key areas"

Minnesota Crookston looked to 23 points from Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who finished the weekend averaging 24.5 points per game. Cleary was 8-of-17 from the field and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) ended a strong weekend with 12 points and nine boards against the Beavers. He averaged 11 points and 8.5 boards in the two games on the weekend. Gable Smith (R-So., F, Lodi, Wis.) would add 10 points and five boards.

Minnesota Crookston was 23-of-55 from the field for 41.8 percent. They struggled beyond the arc, going just 3-of-12 for 25.0 percent. They helped themselves stay in the game by their play at the foul line, as they finished 23-of-28 for 82.1 percent.

Rudolph, the NSIC's second-leading scorer, finished with 33 points and 17 boards on 13-of-20 from the field. Nathaniel Moore added 14 points, while Russ Davis chipped in 11 points. Luis Ricci Maia did a great job distributing the ball as he finished with nine assists on the evening.

Minot State went 31-of-60 from the field for 51.7 percent. They were 9-of-16 from beyond the arc for 56.3 percent and 13-of-18 for 72.2 percent from the charity stripe.

Rudolph is an excellent player and he showed it tonight," Weisse said. "On the other hand though I thought we just didn't do things tonight that we do every day in practice from jumping to the ball to a simple cross-screen action. I thought we made it easier at times for Rudolph. You don't want to make it easy for a very good player, you want to make it harder for him and we just didn't do that tonight."

Minot State would race to a 7-2 advantage after a Ricci Maia three-pointer. The Golden Eagles would go on a quick 4-0 run culminating with a pair of Jim Warmack (Jr., F/C, East Grand Forks, Minn.) free throws to pull within 7-6.

The Beavers would be able to push their lead out to 11-8 on a Nathaniel Moore basket. UMC would bounce back and would pull within 11-10 with a pair of Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) free throws. Minot State would extend their advantage to 20-14 on a Rudolph triple.

The Golden Eagles would get their deficit down to 22-18 on a Cleary jumper with 7:55 remaining in the first half. After a defensive stop, Cleary would come up with another big shot as Minnesota Crookston pulled within 22-20.

Minot State responded with a Trevor Rothstein three in a big moment as the Golden Eagles were closing the gap. The trey would push the lead back out to 25-20. The Beavers would push their advantage out to 31-22 with baskets from Moore and Rudolph.

A Rudolph old-fashioned three-point play to help Minot State push their lead out to 34-22 with 4:33 remaining in the first half. The Golden Eagles would get the Beaver lead back down to 10 on a Chase Johnson jumper.

After a defensive stop, UMC would get another jumper from Johnson to pull within 34-26 with just over three minutes remaining in the half. Rudolph would connect on a jumper with 1:30 left in the half to extend their lead to 36-26. Davis would then nail a triple on the next possession for the Beavers to put them in the 39-26 lead.

Gable Smith (So., F, Lodi, Wis.) would deliver a pretty pass to Johnson to help UMC pull within 39-28 going into the break.

Minnesota Crookston looked to 10 points from Cleary on 5-of-11 from the field. Johnson chipped in six points and four boards off of the bench.

The Golden Eagles would go 11-of-28 for 39.3 percent from the field. UMC was 0-of-4 from beyond the arc. In addition, the Golden Eagles were 6-of-10 from the charity stripe for 60 percent in the first half.

Minnesota Crookston was controlled on the boards 21-14 in the first frame.

Minot State got a big first half from Rudolph, who had 16 points on 6-of-10 from the field. He added eight rebounds. Moore came off of the bench for eight points
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The Beavers shot 16-of-31 for 51.6 percent from the field. They were 4-of-8 from beyond the arc for 50 percent and 3-of-4 for 75 percent from the charity stripe.

Minnesota Crookston would open the second half on an 8-0 run culminating in a Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) three-pointer, which would bring UMC within 39-36. Minot State would answer and would use a 7-0 run of their own to push their lead back out to 46-36 with 16:02 left in the game.

UMC would find their way back to within six points (49-44) as Smith found Johnson for a dunk. Minot State again responded as they would use a 16-6 run culminating with a Moore basket to put the lead at 65-50 with 7:51 left in the game.

Minnesota Crookston would use a 4-0 run to pull within 65-54 with 6:56 left in the game. Minot State would respond led by a jumper from Ricci Maia and a Davis three-pointer to go up 70-56 with 5:53 remaining in the game.

UMC would get the game within 12 points at 70-58 with a pair of Smith free throws. However, Rothstein would hit another triple to push the game out to 73-58 with four minutes left in the game. The Beavers would be able to take their lead out to 76-60 on a Rudolph triple.

The Golden Eagles would chip away at the lead and would get the deficit down to 76-66 on a Cleary jumper with 1:50 remaining in the game. UMC would then come up with an opportune steal and would turn it into a three-pointer for Knickerbocker to pull within 76-69.

Minot State would come back on their end with a quick bucket from Rudolph to make it 78-69. They would come up with a defensive stop, forcing UMC to foul. Moore hit 1-of-2 to put the Beavers ahead 79-69.

Knickerbocker would hit 1-of-2 to pull UMC within 79-70. However, Minot State would hit their free throws down the stretch to come away with an 84-72 victory.  

Minnesota Crookston will return to Lysaker Gymnasium next weekend as they take on Minnesota State University-Mankato and Concordia University-St. Paul.