ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State University used a 20-8 run in the final 10 minutes of the first half in order to propel them to a 71-53 victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team. The Golden Eagles were outscored by just 32-30 in the second half, but would unable to overcome a 39-25 deficit at the half. Minnesota Crookston also struggled shooting the ball on the game as they shot just 37.9 percent on the game.
Minnesota Crookston drops to 8-8 (5-5 NSIC) with Saturday's loss to the Huskies. The Golden Eagles remain in fourth place in the NSIC North despite the weekend sweep. St. Cloud State improved to 11-4 (7-2 NSIC) with the victory over the Golden Eagles. The Huskies picked up the sweep over the Golden Eagles with Saturday's win.
The Golden Eagles looked to Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) with a team-high 18 points on 7-of-14 from the field. Cleary moved past Akeem Cubie for second all-time in scoring for the Golden Eagles with 1,028 points. The only player with more is the program's all-time leading scorer Joe Hasz with 1,939 points in a career.
Josh Collins (Jr., F, Minneapolis, Minn.) had a strong game off of the bench with 10 points and eight rebounds. Collins was playing his second game as a Golden Eagle after transferring from University of North Dakota at the semester.
Gable Smith (R-Jr., F, Lodi, Wis.) came close to a double-double of nine points and 10 boards, while Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa) tallied nine points on 4-of-11 from the field.
The Golden Eagles shot 22-of-58 from the field for 37.9 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 4-of-21 for 19.0 percent from beyond the arc. The Golden Eagles were 7-of-9 for 77.8 percent from the charity stripe. Minnesota Crookston struggled to maintain ball control as they finished with 15 turnovers to just 10 assists during Saturday's game.
The Huskies were led by Gage Davis with 26 points on 11-of-20 from the field. Davis chipped in five rebounds and four assists. Jon Averkamp chipped in 18 points and eight boards, along with six assists. Averkamp was 7-of-13 from the field. Sean Smith added a double-double of 11 points and 14 boards on 5-of-7 from the field. Brindley Theisen finished with nine points, while Adam Heede-Andersen had six rebounds and five assists.
St. Cloud State was 29-of-57 from the field for 50.9 percent. The Huskies were 8-of-19 for 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. They struggled from the charity stripe where they were just 5-of-12 for 41.7 percent Saturday. St. Cloud State controlled the boards by the tune of 36-34.
The Huskies raced out to a 7-3 advantage following a Theisen triple. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 9-7 with 16:52 left in the first half on a jumper from Smith. St. Cloud State responded with a 7-0 run led by a three from Sean Smith as they took a 16-7 lead. Minnesota Crookston countered with an 8-0 run of their own paced by back-to-back three-pointers from Alan Hodge, Jr. (Jr., G, Dallas, Texas) and Cleary. The Golden Eagle run cut the deficit to 16-15 with 10:48 remaining in the first half. Davis stopped the run with a three-pointer to move the St. Cloud State lead to 19-15. The Huskies would be able to extend their advantage to 25-17 with a 6-2 run. A Juhl jumper cut the lead to 27-21 with 4:41 remaining in the frame. Theisen started a 10-0 run for the Huskies as they moved their lead to 37-21. St. Cloud State went into the break with a 39-25 advantage.
Minnesota Crookston was led by Cleary with nine points on 3-of-6 from the field. Gable Smith chipped in six points and four rebounds in the first half. The Golden Eagles shot 10-of-25 for 40.0 percent from the field in the first half. Minnesota Crookston was just 3-of-13 from behind the three-point line for 23.1 percent.
St. Cloud State looked to 10 points from Averkamp in the first half. Davis added nine points and four assists, while Theisen notched eight points. The Huskies were 17-of-31 for 54.8 percent in the first half. In addition, they were 5-of-11 from beyond the arc for 45.5 percent.
Minnesota Crookston opened the second half on a 6-0 run as they cut the deficit to 39-31. The Golden Eagles looked to a triple from Cleary. St. Cloud State responded with a 4-0 run with back-to-back baskets from Davis to extend the lead to 43-31. Minnesota Crookston came right back with a 4-0 run as Hodge and Gable Smith hit jumpers to get the deficit back down to 43-35. The Golden eagles would continue to cut into the lead as they cut the lead to 49-44 with a pair of Collins free throws with 9:01 remaining in the game. The Huskies stopped the rally right there as they used a 6-0 run including an Averkamp three-pointer to move the advantage to 55-44 with 5:31 remaining in the game. Minnesota Crookston stopped the run with a Collins basket. However, they followed up that run with a 7-0 rally to extend their lead to 62-46. Minnesota Crookston would be unable to overcome the Huskies as they came away with the 71-55 win.
The Golden Eagles will return to action Fri., Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. against Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn.
