CROOKSTON, Minn. – A suffocating St. Cloud State University defense and poor shooting on the night led to a 69-57 loss for the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team. The Huskies made it tough for the Golden Eagles to find great looks and when they did find open shots they struggled to knock them down as they finished the night 19-of-55 from the field for just 34.5 percent.

The Golden Eagles fall to 3-4 (1-1 NSIC) after Friday's loss to the Huskies. St. Cloud State improved to 4-2 (1-0 NSIC) with the victory to open their conference season.

"We need to be better," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "Give credit to St. Cloud State. Their defense was much improved from last year. We are very disappointed in the loss. We had some tough shots on the night but we also had some that we need to make. We need to be better on both ends of the floor. It didn't go our way but if we have the right mindset we think we can compete with any team in this league. I thought we came into the game with the right mindset, but when the shots aren't falling you can't let that carry over to both ends of the floor."

Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) finished the game just 4-of-13 of the field with 14 points. He did a good job of trying to spread the ball around as he had six assists to just two turnovers. Cleary was also crucial on the glass as the six-foot guard led the team with nine rebounds to finish with a near double-double on the night.

Gable Smith (R-Jr., F, Lodi, Wis.) added 10 points and six boards on 3-of-4 from the field. Chase Knickerbocker (Jr., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) tallied 10 points, all in the second half. Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa) chipped in nine points, while Alan Hodge, Jr. (Jr., G, Dallas, Texas) finished with eight points on just 4-of-16 from the field.

The Golden Eagles had just six points off of the bench paced by four from Nate Lorenz (Jr., F/C, Breckenridge, Minn.).

Minnesota Crookston was 4-of-18 from behind the three-point line for 22.2 percent. They connected on 15-of-18 from the charity stripe for 83.3 percent. The Golden Eagles edged the Huskies on the glass 34-33.

St. Cloud State looked to the hot shooting of Brindley Theisen, who had 19 points on 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from behind the three-point arc. Sean Smith added 15 points and nine rebounds in the post. Trevon Marshall tallied 13 points off of the bench. The Golden Eagles limited the team's leading scorer Jon Averkamp to just nine points and six boards.

The Huskies shot 23-of-52 from the field for 44.2 percent. They were 6-of-14 from beyond the arc for 42.9 percent and 17-of-19 for 89.5 percent from the foul line. Their free throws were especially crucial down the stretch.

The Golden Eagles lost for the first time this season when limiting their opponents to under 70 points in a game. They came into the day 2-0 when holding their foes under 70 points. Minnesota Crookston still has a strong mark at Lysaker Gymnasium as they move to 3-1 on the season on their home court. The Golden Eagles are still off to their best start in conference play since the 2013-14 season when they also opened the season with a 1-1 NSIC record.

St. Cloud State got out to a 5-2 advantage following a basket from Averkamp. The Golden Eagles knotted the game up early on as a Juhl trey made it 5-5. The Huskies used a 5-0 run ignited by an Andy Foley three-pointer to move the lead to 10-5 with 12:03 remaining in the half. A Javier Nicolau (So., F/C, Castellon, Spain) bucket brought Minnesota Crookston within 10-7. St. Cloud State extended their lead to 14-9 with a jumper from Drew Lewis.

Minnesota Crookston countered with a 4-0 run led by buckets from Smith and Lorenz to pull within 14-13 with 7:34 left in the first half. St. Cloud State came back with a 6-0 run guided by four points from Marshall to move their lead to 20-13. The Golden Eagles pulled within 22-17 with a jumper from Juhl.

A 5-0 run spearheaded by a breakaway dunk by Sean Smith to push the lead to 27-17 with 3:50 left in the first period. The Golden Eagles responded with a 6-0 run guided by a three-pointer from Cleary and two free throws from Smith to cut the deficit to 27-23. The Huskies went into the break with a 32-25 lead.

Juhl led the Golden Eagles with seven points, while Cleary had five points, four rebounds and three assists. Minnesota Crookston was 10-of-27 for 37.0 percent. They were 2-of-8 for 25.0 percent from beyond the arc and 3-of-5 for 60.0 percent from the free throw line.

St. Cloud State looked to eight points from Theisen. Sean Smith added seven points, while Foley had five points and four rebounds. The Huskies were 13-of-29 from the field for 44.8 percent in the opening period. They shot 3-of-7 for 42.9 percent from behind the three-point line and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

Theisen opened the second half with a triple to move the St. Cloud State lead to 35-25. The Huskies would be able to extend their lead to 40-27 with a Smith basket. Eight points from Knickerbocker helped cut the St. Cloud State advantage to 43-37 with 13:09 left in the game. A 9-0 run by St. Cloud State as the Golden Eagles failed to score for four minutes put the Huskies up 54-39.

A Cleary jumper ended the scoreless streak for Minnesota Crookston and cut the lead to 54-41. Minnesota Crookston would only get as close as 10 points with a Gable Smith dunk with 2:15 left in the game. The Huskies closed out the game with crucial free throw shots as Marshall led the way going 3-of-4 in the final two minutes. St. Cloud State would hang on for the 69-57 win.

The Huskies were without Gage Davis, an All-American for the team last year. Davis returns from a suspension tomorrow against Bemidji State University.

Minnesota Crookston returns to action Sat., Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. against University of Minnesota Duluth at Lysaker Gymnasium.