MOORHEAD, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston fell 103-68 to No. 24 Minnesota State University Moorhead Sat., Feb. 11 at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. The Dragons used a 16-2 run in the first half and would outscore the Golden Eagles 51-23 in the final 18 minutes in order to come away with the victory. Minnesota Crookston would lead 24-21 with 11:04 left in the first half but it would be all MSU Moorhead the rest of the way.

"We needed to make them play our pace a little more, said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "They do a heck of a job with their offense. They have a lot of experienced players who have been at it for awhile and they do a great job. We did a good job in the first half at getting the ball to the post and and slowing it down a little more. In the second half they started hitting shots and we took a lot of quick shots to try and counter and the game got away from us."

Minnesota Crookston falls to 7-19 (3-17 NSIC) with the loss. They remain tied for seventh place with University of Minnesota Duluth heading into the final two games of the regular-season. MSU Moorhead improves to 22-4 (17-3 NSIC) with Saturday's win.

The Golden Eagles looked to 16 points from Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) on 5-of-16 from the field and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Gable Smith (R-So., F, Lodi, Wis.) had a strong offensive game with 15 points on 7-of-11 from the field. Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) added nine points, while Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) chipped in six points and seven boards.

Minnesota Crookston shot 25-of-61 from the field for 41 percent. They were 6-of-20 from beyond the arc for 30 percent and 12-of-20 from the charity stripe for 60 percent.

MSU Moorhead looked to Matt Anderson's double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds off of the bench. Tanner Kretchman tallied 17 points and seven assists. Aaron Lien chipped in 13 points and seven boards, while Ayob Ayob had 13 points and six boards. Matt Nelson would add 10 points.

The Dragons shot 42-of-71 from the field for 59.2 percent. They were 12-of-29 from beyond the arc for 41.4 percent. MSU Moorhead outrebounded the Golden Eagles 44-31 on the night.

Minnesota Crookston would start out the game strong as Knickerbocker hit a triple to push the lead to 7-3. The Dragons would find their way and would take the lead 11-10 after a Lien three-pointer with 14:43 left in the half. UMC would respond and would be able to take a 19-16 advantage following a Johnson jumper.

The Dragons would come back and would knot it up 19-19 on a Johnny Beeninga free throw. UMC would go on a 5-2 run to take the 24-21 lead on a Johnson layup. MSU Moorhead would take over for the next five minutes as they went on a 16-2 run culminating with a Matt Nelson dunk to make it 37-26 with 6:27 left in the half.

Smith would snap the run to pull UMC back within 37-28. The Dragons would continue to push out the lead as Nelson hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to make it 40-28 with 4:13 left in the first half. UMC would use a jumper from Connor Gamble and a pair of free throws from Cleary to pull back within eight at 40-32.

The Dragons would use a 4-0 run led a Kretchman layup to push the lead back out to 44-32. Minnesota Crookston would pull back within 44-36 after a pair of Cleary free throw shots and a breakaway Smith dunk. MSU Moorhead would close out the half with a pair of Lien free throws to make it 46-36.

Minnesota Crookston shot 14-of-30 from the field for 46.7 percent in the first half. They were just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc for 22.2 percent and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe for 66.7 percent. UMC looked to nine points apiece from Cleary and Smith. Knickerbocker added five points and seven boards.

MSU Moorhead looked to 11 points from Ayob Ayob on 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Kretchman added nine points, while Jon Doss had seven points.

The Dragons were 17-of-32 from the field for 53.1 percent and 6-of-18 for 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. MSU Moorhead was 6-of-9 from the free throw line. The Dragons narrowly won the rebound battle 19-17.

The Golden Eagles would open up the second period with a bucket from Smith to pull within 46-38. UMC would inch closer at 52-45 on a dunk from Smith. However, MSU Moorhead responded with a 5-0 run led by a Lien triple and a Nelson dunk to push the lead out to 57-45 with 17:26 remaining in the game.

UMC would cut the lead down to 57-47 on a bucket from Smith. MSU Moorhead would respond with a three-pointer from Kretchman and dunk off a steal from Doss to go up 62-47. The Dragons would extend their lead to 66-49 on a Lien slam.

The Golden Eagles would cut into the lead and get it down to 68-54 after a Cleary bucket. However, MSU Moorhead would push the lead back out to 72-54 after an Ayob bucket. Minnesota Crookston would respond and get the lead down to 73-57 off a Gamble triple. Five consecutive buckets from Anderson would push the lead out to 82-57. The Dragons would be able to push their lead out even further to 87-59. MSU Moorhead would outscore the Golden Eagles 51-23 in the final 18 minutes of the second half to win 103-68.

Minnesota Crookston will wrap up the regular-season as they return home to face Minot State University Fri., Feb. 17 and University of Mary Sat., Feb. 18.