DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Duluth used a 7-0 run at the close of Friday's game to upend University of Minnesota Crookston 75-71. The Golden Eagles led 71-68 over the Bulldogs after a Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) jumper with 1:51 remaining. UMD would crawl back in the final minutes of the game using a trey from Trevor Entwisle, a jumper from Brandon Myer and two free throws from Logan Rohrscheib.
Minnesota Crookston falls to 8-7 (5-4 NSIC) with Friday's loss. The Golden Eagles are still off to their best start in program history. They remain just win shy of tying the school record of nine wins set during the 2000-01 season. Minnesota Duluth improved to 5-8 (2-6 NSIC) with Friday's win. The Golden Eagles and Bulldogs split the season series as Minnesota Crookston won the game in Crookston, Minn., 98-90 Dec. 2.
Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) led the Golden Eagles with 30 points on 12-of-18 from the field, 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Cleary became the third player in school history to reach 1,000 points in a career on Friday. He now sits at 1,010 points in under two full seasons in the Maroon and Gold. Cleary ranks third all-time in scoring, needing just four points to surpass Akeem Cubie on the all-time scoring charts. He is the quickest player in school history to reach 1,000 points surpassing the school's all-time leading scorer Joe Hasz, who eclipsed the mark during his junior season. Hasz remains fourth all-time in scoring in the NSIC and was inducted into the Minnesota Crooskton Athletic Hall of Fame earlier this season. Cleary needs 930 points to surpass Hasz's scoring record.
In addition to Cleary, Alan Hodge, Jr. (Jr., G, Dallas, Texas) added a double-double of 21 points and 13 boards. The double-dip is the first of his career at Minnesota Crookston. Hodge was 9-of-18 from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Gable Smith (R-Jr., F, Lodi, Wis.) chipped in nine points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.
Josh Collins (Jr., F, Minneapolis, Minn.) made his debut in a Minnesota Crookston jersey on Friday. Collins is a transfer from University of North Dakota who joined the team at semester. He was declared eligible to play for the Golden Eagles earlier this week. He had two rebounds and two assists.
The Bulldogs were able to limit Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa), who came in averaging 10.5 points per game. Juhl finished with just three points on 1-of-3 from the field.
The Golden Eagles shot 30-of-52 for 57.7 percent Friday. They were 6-of-16 for 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. However, they struggled from the foul line going just 5-of-8 for 62.5 percent. Minnesota Crookston also had 12 turnovers on the game and they were controlled on the boards 40-29. The Golden Eagles would give up 18 offensive rebounds during Friday's game against Minnesota Duluth.
The Bulldogs looked to Brandon Myer with 27 points on 11-of-26 from the field. He rounded out a double-double with 12 rebounds. Logan Rohrscheib chipped in 17 points on 5-of-15 from the field. Trevor Entwisle chipped in 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Sean Burns added to Minnesota Duluth's efforts with seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Bulldogs shot 29-of-69 for 42.0 percent. They were 7-of-20 for 35.0 percent from beyond the arc and 10-of-18 for 55.6 percent from the foul line. Minnesota Duluth had nine turnovers on the game.
Minnesota Duluth got out to an early 4-0 advantage using a bucket from Luke Harris and two free throws from Myer. UMD built their lead out to 9-4 later in the first half following a Rohrscheib old-fashioned three-point play. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 9-6 with a Hodge jumper. However, Myer came right back with a basket to extend the advantage to 11-6. Minnesota Crookston responded with a 5-0 run paced by a Smith basket and a Cleary triple to knot the game up 11-11 with 13:27 left in the first half. Entwisle stopped the run with a basket for UMD as the Bulldogs took the lead 13-11. Minnesota Duluth built on the basket as they used a 10-2 run to take the 21-13 lead following an Entwisle trey. Minnesota Crookston countered with five-straight points from Hodge to take a bite out of the lead and get it down to 21-18. A trey from Entwisle and a dunk by Mamadou Ngom fended off the charge by the Golden Eagles and extended the UMD lead to 26-18. Rohrscheib built on the run with a three for Minnesota Duluth to make it 29-18 with 7:07 left in the opening half. Minnesota Crookston did not give in as they used a 10-0 run culminated by a Hodge trey to get the deficit down to one at 29-28. Myer came up in a big spot with a bucket for the Bulldogs to put UMD ahead 31-28. However, Hodge came right back with a triple to knot it up 31-31. Nate Lorenz (Jr., F/C, Breckenridge, Minn.) put his stamp on the first half with back-to-back buckets to put the Golden Eagles up 35-31. However, Myer closed the half with a basket to pull Minnesota Duluth back within 35-33 going into the locker room.
Hodge led the Golden Eagles in the first half with 17 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. He added nine rebounds. Cleary was held to seven points on 3-of-5 from the field, while Smith had seven points and four rebounds.
Minnesota Crookston was 15-of-27 for 55.6 percent in the first half. They were 4-of-9 for 44.4 percent from beyond the arc and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs looked to Myer with 15 points and eight boards in the first half. Entwisle added eight points. UMD shot 13-of-38 for 34.2 percent in the opening half. They were 4-of-12 for 33.3 percent from behind the three-point line.
Minnesota Duluth knotted the game up 35-35 with a Myer basket to open the second half. They would take the lead 37-35 following another Myer bucket. Minnesota Crookston responded with a Smith dunk and Cleary triple to take the lead back 40-37. The Golden Eagles extended their lead to 42-38 on a Cleary jumper. Minnesota Duluth would be able to get the lead down to one at 42-41 as Myer connected on a three-pointer. The Bulldogs took the lead back on a Harris basket to make it 43-42. The two teams continued to trade leads until Minnesota Duluth would be able to extend a lead out to three at 51-48 after a Rohrscheib basket. Minnesota Crookston would respond though and take the lead back two possessions later after a Cleary jumper and a fast-break bucket by Hodge to make it 52-51. Minnesota Duluth came right back with a Rohrscheib triple as they went ahead 54-52. They would continue to trade leads again until UMD moved their lead back out three at 59-56 following an Entwisle basket with 8:11 remaining. The Bulldogs would hold on to the lead until a Javier Nicolau (So., F/C, Castellon, Spain) jumper put Minnesota Crookston ahead 64-63 with 4:24 remaining. The Golden Eagles stretched out their lead to six following a three from Cleary and another Nicolau basket to make it 69-63 with 2:55 left in the game.
Minnesota Duluth opened their late charge with an old-fashioned three-point play by Entwisle to cut the deficit to 69-66. A basket from Burns would pull the Bulldogs within 69-68 with 2:10 left in the game. Cleary fended off the charge for the moment with a jumper to move the lead to 71-68. However, Entwisle came up big again with a trey to knot it up 71-71. After a turnover by the Golden Eagles, UMD's Myer put back a second-chance opportunity as they took the lead 73-71 with 48 seconds remaining. Minnesota Crookston again missed a shot and Rohrscheib hit a pair from the charity stripe to ice the 75-71 win for the Bulldogs.
Minnesota Crookston returns to action Sat., Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. at St. Cloud State University.
