ABERDEEN, S.D. –  The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team would fall 85-80 in overtime to Northern State University Fri., Feb. 10 at Wachs Arena. The Wolves used a 15-2 run at the end of the second half to lead 72-70 with 9.2 seconds remaining. Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) would hit a clutch jumper in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime. UMC would have several shots in overtime, including following a technical foul by Northern State to either tie or take the lead, but Northern State would come up in crunch time as they came away with the victory.

Minnesota Crookston falls to 7-18 (3-16 NSIC) with the tough loss in overtime. Northern State improves to 19-6 (15-4 NSIC) with the win.

Minnesota Crookston would lead the game by 11 points with 5:45 remaining before Northern State took over down the stretch of regulation. Minnesota Crookston would play strong basketball for the first 35 minutes of the game, but the final five minutes of the second half would be their demise. The Wolves would come up with the opportune plays in overtime to take the win as they played the better basketball in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Minnesota Crookston did show much improvement against the Wolves compared to their first meeting at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles would fall to Northern State 109-68 Dec. 10. The Golden Eagles have continued to show signs all year long as the core of their roster continues to mature. UMC has 11 underclassmen on a roster of 13 players. 

The Golden Eagles looked to 33 points on 11-of-26 from the field from Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.). Critchley had a strong moments on the day as he came up with several clutch plays including the overtime-forcing shot. 

Critchley would finish with 12 points. Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) added nine points and six boards, while Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) had eight points and seven boards. Gable Smith (R-So., F, Lodi, Wis.) added six points and 12 boards.

The Golden Eagles shot 28-of-74 from the field for 37.8 percent. They were 6-of-19 from the beyond the arc for 31.6 percent and 18-of-26 from the charity stripe for 69.2 percent.

Northern State had four players tally double-figure scoring. Logan Doyle led the way with a double-double of 23 points and 20 rebounds. Ian Smith also had a double-double with 13 points and 15 boards. Mack Arvidson would add 11 points, while D.J. Pollard had 14 points and seven boards.

The Wolves would win the rebounding battle by the tune of 55-40. Northern State shot 29-of-69 from the field for 42.0 percent. They were 6-of-24 from beyond the arc for 25.0 percent and 21-of-29 for 72.4 percent from the free throw line.

The Wolves would get out to an early 9-4 lead after back-to-back Carter Evans baskets. A Johnson dunk would ignite an 8-0 run for the Golden Eagles as they went up 12-9 on Northern State with 12:11 left in the first half. Northern State would use a quick 4-0 run led by Jonny Dahl free throws and a Bo Fries jumper to go up 13-12. UMC responded with a clutch three from Riley Rice (Sr., F/C, Mullen, Neb.) to take the lead back 15-13. The Wolves would respond once again with a 4-0 run after a pair of Doyle free throws to go up 17-15.

Minnesota Crookston would be able to knot it up 17-17 after a pair of Smith free throws. After an Evans dunk made it 19-17, UMC would again respond as Connor Gamble (R-Fr., G, Stillwater, Minn.) hit a clutch triple to put them up 20-19. The two teams would continue to trade leads until Minnesota Crookston would be able to go up 27-23 as Cleary hit a contested jumper while being fouled. The Golden Eagles would extend the lead as Xavier Hall (Sr., G, Woodbury, Minn.) would thread the needle to Knickerbocker to make it 29-23.

Northern State would stop the run with a Doyle bucket to cut the lead to 29-25.

The Wolves would continue to take a bite into the lead with a Pollard jumper to cut it to 29-27. However, Hall responded on the other end for the Golden Eagles to stave off the Wolves for the moment and make it 31-29. Northern State would again cut it to a two-point lead after another Pollard jumper. However, Hall would come up with a big play again with another basket to push it back out to 33-29 with 3:08 left in the first half. Northern State would cut it to 33-31 once more after a Doyle dunk. This time UMC would respond in a big way with a 5-0 run led by a Cleary three-pointer to push it out to 38-31.

The Wolves would use a 5-0 run of their own with a stamp put on by an Arvidson triple to cut it to 38-36. Johnson would score four-consecutive points to put the Golden Eagles up 42-36. Another Arvidson three-pointer would cut the lead to 42-39 going into the half.

Minnesota Crookston shot 17-of-34 from the field for 50 percent in the opening period. UMC was 3-of-10 from beyond the arc and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles looked to 11 points from Cleary on 5-of-10. Johnson added eight points and four boards on 3-of-4 from the field. Knickerbocker chipped in seven points.

Northern State would open up the second half with a Doyle put-back dunk to get within 42-41. The Golden Eagles would stave off the Wolves as Knickerbocker drove to the bucket for two to put UMC up 44-41. Northern State would pull within one after a bucket from Ian Smith. Smith would have a chance to knot it up with the and-one but would miss the opportunity. UMC would come back on the other up with a clutch triple from Critchley to push their advantage out to 47-43.

Northern State would not go away as they pulled back within 47-45 on a Smith bucket. After a defensive stop, the Wolves would have a chance to take the lead on an Arvidson three-pointer. The miss would give the ball back to UMC where Critchley would convert an old-fashioned three-point play to put UMC up 50-45. UMC would use a pair of Cleary jumpers to extend their lead to 54-46 with just over 12 minutes remaining.

Northern State would get the lead down to 54-48 on a Justin Decker jumper. However, UMC kept responding as they would go up 58-48 after a pair of Cleary free throws with 11 minutes left in the game. Northern State would use a 6-2 run led by a pair of Decker three-pointers to cut the lead down to 60-54 with 10 minutes remaining in the second half.

Cleary would knock down a three with two Northern State players in his face to put UMC back up 63-54. A pair of Smith free throws would push the lead out to 65-54 for the Golden Eagles.

Northern State would use a Doyle dunk and a Pollard free throw to pull back within 65-57 with six minutes left in the game. Cleary would come up big for UMC with a clutch three-pointer to put the Golden Eagles back up 68-57.

The Wolves would not give in as they would go on a 7-0 run led by a Smith triple to cut it to 68-64 with 4:14 left in the second half. Northern State would get a defensive stop and would turn it into three more as Arvidson nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 68-67. The shot would make it a 10-0 run for the Wolves.

After another key stop, Northern State would get a chance to take the lead but a Smith block and a Johnson force of the jump ball would give UMC the ball back with just under three minutes left. UMC would miss their chance at the rim and give the ball back to the Wolves. Arvidson would be fouled and would be able to connect on both from the charity stripe to swing it in favor of Northern State 69-68.

After another defensive stop for the Wolves, Pollard would connect on a shot to make it 71-68 Northern State. UMC would respond with a Cleary layup to pull back within 71-70. The Golden Eagles would come up with a crucial defensive stop and would get a chance to take the lead but Gamble would miss the jumper.

Minnesota Crookston would get called for the foul with 14.1 seconds remaining sending Arvidson to the charity stripe. The Northern State senior would miss the front-end but Doyle would get the offensive board. UMC would foul Pollard this time with 9.2 seconds left in the second half. Pollard would hit 1-of-2 to make it 72-70 with 9.2 seconds remaining. UMC would have one last chance in regulation. Critchley would get to the lane and hit the jumper to knot it up 72-72 and force the overtime.

Northern State would get the first points of the overtime period at the charity stripe to make it 74-72. UMC would counter as Cleary fed Smith to knot it up 74-74. Smith would respond for Northern State as they took the lead 76-74. Cleary would try the same play to Smith but he would miss giving the ball back to the Wolves. UMC would come up with a big stop as Critchley took the charge as he continued to make the big plays on the night. The Golden Eagles would be able to take advantage as a miss would give the ball back to the Wolves.

Gabe King would find Doyle for the dunk to put Northern State up 78-74 with two minutes remaining. UMC would cut the lead to 78-76 on a pair of Cleary free throws with 1:55 left in the overtime period. Doyle would again get the bucket to extend the lead to 80-76 for Northern State. After a block by Doyle, he would be called for the technical foul. Cleary would hit both foul shots and UMC would keep the ball. Cleary would miss the three-point attempt to give the ball back to the Wolves and leave it up to the defense.

Arvidson found Doyle at the hoop to push the Northern State lead to 82-78. UMC got a quick basket from Cleary to cut the lead to 82-80 with 25 seconds remaining. The Golden Eagles would be forced to foul Doyle with 8.4 seconds remaining. Doyle would hit 1-of-2 giving UMC a shot. They would foul Cleary where he would hit miss the first one and try to get the bounce off the rim on the second but it would not hit the rim giving the ball back to Northern State.

UMC would quickly foul sending King to the charity stripe. King would hit the first to ice the game for Northern State and would hit the second to give the Wolves the 85-80 win.

Minnesota Crookston will look to come back from a tough loss but it does not get any easier. The Golden Eagles will take on No. 24 Minnesota State University Moorhead Sat., Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at Nemzek Fieldhouse.