MINOT, N.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team struggled out of the gate Fri., Feb. 16 as they fell 78 to 62 to Minot State University at the MSU Dome in Minot, N.D. The Golden Eagles trailed by more than 10 points from the last 21:31 of Saturday's game.

Minnesota Crookston continues to post their best record in program history with a 10-17 (7-14 NSIC) mark. Minot State improved to 18-9 (12-9 NSIC) with the victory as they pick up the sweep of Minnesota Crookston on the season. The Golden Eagles will either be the No. 5 or 6 seed in the NSIC North. If they win and Minnesota Duluth loses tomorrow they will be the No. 5 seed, otherwise they will be the No. 6 seed. They will either play at Winona State University or University of Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls has to defeat Minnesota State University regardless of what Winona State does to get the No. 3 seed over the Warriors.

The Golden Eagles looked to 21 points from Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) on 8-of-15 from the field. Cleary officially surpassed 1,000 points in conference play, becoming the second player in school history to ever accomplish the mark, joining Joe Hasz. Cleary moved to 30^th all-time in scoring in the NSIC as he surpassed John Smith of Winona State and Zach Monaghan of Minnesota State.

Alan Hodge, Jr. (Jr., G, Dallas, Texas) chipped in 15 points and seven boards, while Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa) added 10 points. Gable Smith (Jr., F, Lodi, Wis.) finished with seven points and five boards.

Minnesota Crookston shot 23-of-58 from the field for 39.7 percent. The Golden Eagles hit just 3-of-21 from beyond the arc for 14.3 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 13-of-16 for 81.3 percent from the foul line.

Minot State was guided by 25 points from David Akibo on 9-of-19 from the field. He added eight boards on the night. Tyler Rudolph added a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Russ Davis chipped in 14 points and six boards, while Nathaniel Moore came off the bench for eight points.
The Beavers were 28-of-64 for 43.8 percent from the field. Minot State was 8-of-21 for 38.1 percent from beyond the arc and 14-of-16 for 87.5 percent from the charity stripe.

Minot State controlled the rebounding edge 41-33, including 13 offensive rebounds. Luis Ricci Maia had nine assists to zero turnovers as he captained the Beaver offensive attack.

The Beavers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead as Rudolph hit a jumper with 16:39 remaining in the opening half. Minot State would be able to move their lead out to 13-5 as Davis nailed a triple. The Golden Eagles would be able to cut the deficit to 15-9 when Cleary drained a jumper. The Beavers responded as David hit another trey to move the advantage out to 18-9. Minnesota Crookston pulled within 18-11 on a Javier Nicolau (So., F/C, Castellon, Spain) bucket. However, Minot State countered with a 5-0 run guided by an Akibo triple to make the score 23-11. The Golden Eagles used a 6-0 run as they cut the lead to 23-17 after a Cleary bucket with 6:27 left in the half. Minot State came right back with a run of their own as their 4-0 rally moved the lead to 27-17 with a Brandon Green bucket. Minnesota Crookston pulled back to within 29-22 on a Smith layup with 2:26 remaining in the frame. Minot State again responded though as Akibo used an old-fashioned three-point play to make the tally 32-22. The Beavers ended the half on a 5-0 run as they went into the locker room with the 37-24 lead.
Minnesota Crookston looked to Cleary in the first half with 10 points on 5-of-9 from the field. Smith added five points and three blocks, while Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa) had four points.

The Golden Eagles shot 11-of-27 from the field for 40.7 percent. However, they were unable to hit a three-pointer as they were 0-of-11 from beyond the arc for 0.0 percent. Minnesota Crookston shot 2-of-4 for 50.0 percent from the stripe.

Minot State looked to 15 first-half points from Akibo on 5-of-10 from the field. Rudolph added eight points and nine rebounds, while David had six points. The Beavers were 14-of-32 for 43.8 percent from the field. Minot State shot 3-of-9 from beyond the arc for 33.3 percent and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.

An Akibo bucket early on in the second moved the lead to 39-24. Minnesota Crookston cut the deficit to 39-26 on a Smith basket. However, Minot State responded with a 7-2 run as they moved the lead to 46-28. The Beavers extended their lead to 49-30 as Davis completed an old-fashioned three-point play. Minnesota Crookston would be able to get the lead back down to 55-37 as Hodge drained a trey with 12 minutes left in the game. The Beavers led by 19 at 58-39 before Cleary was able to cut the lead to 58-42 when he sank a triple. Minot State's Davis came right back on the other end with a trey to move the lead back out to 61-42. Minnesota Crookston would get the lead back down to 16 at 68-52 as Hodge nailed a trey with five minutes left. However, Minot State continued to fend off the charge from the Golden Eagles as they fell 78-62.

Minnesota Crookston will wrap up the regular-season Sat., Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. at University of Mary at McDowell Activity Center.