SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -  The University of Minnesota Crookston saw their season come to a close with a 98-68 loss to University of Sioux Falls Wed., Feb. 21 in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament at the Stewart Center. The Golden Eagles had split with USF on the season with a 79-74 win at home in non-conference play and a 68-56 loss in Sioux Falls in a conference tilt. The Golden Eagles were down by just 14 at the break, but Sioux Falls would turn up their offense as they out-scored Minnesota Crookston 57-41 in the final period.
 
Minnesota Crookston ends the 2017-18 season with a 10-19 mark, the best season the Golden Eagles have ever had in the NCAA Division II era. The Golden Eagles have a lot to look forward to in 2018-19 as they are slated to return 15 players next season. Minnesota Crookston was hampered by the injury bug at the end of the season as they were missing four players to injury, along with two players who redshirted this season. Sioux Falls moved to 20-9. The Cougars advance to play St. Cloud State University Sat., Feb. 24 at 8 p.m.
 
"Sioux Falls is a very good team," said Head Coach Dan Weisse. "I thought that they did a great job. It is unfortunate. We need to be better and I think we will be better. We have some horses do be able to do so. Getting healthy will definitely help that out. That will be very big getting all of our guys healthy. When you see our bench and half our guys are in street clothes that isn't a great sign. We are very optimistic for next year. This is a heck of a lesson for us as we got run out of the gym tonight. If we get ourselves healthy we feel like we can compete with anyone in the league. We don't make excuses, our job is to help us get better and I feel like we will be getting better as we continue to move this thing forward."
 
The Golden Eagles were led by the league's leading scorer Harrison Cleary (So., G, Oak, Creek, Wis.), who notched 26 points on 7-of-19 from the field. Cleary finishes his first two seasons with Minnesota Crookston with 1,342 points overall. He needs just 597 points in two seasons to surpass all-time scoring leader Joe Hasz, who ranks fifth all-time in NSIC scoring. Cleary scored a school-record 702 points on the 2017-18 season.
 
Ben Juhl (Fr., G, Clive, Iowa) chipped in 11 points on 3-of-11 from the field. Gabrys Sadaunykas (R-Fr., G/F, Vilnius, Lithuania) came off the bench for eight points and four boards, while Darin Viken (Jr., G, Fosston, Minn.) had eight points and six rebounds. Gable Smith (R-Jr., F, Lodi, Wis.) played limited minutes due to a minor injury suffered on the game. Smith had three rebounds. Gable Smith ends the season as the NCAA Division II leader for blocks with 109. He ends the season just behind Marshall's Ajdin Penava, who has the most blocks in all NCAA divisions.
 
The Golden Eagles shot 21-of-60 from the field for just 35.0 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 6-of-17 from beyond the arc for 35.3 percent. They shot well from the line as they were 20-of-23 for 87.0 percent.

Sioux Falls was propelled by 23 points and 10 assists from Trevon Evans on 10-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Drew Guebert added 20 points on 6-of-14 from the field. Aaron Rothermund chipped in 17 points on 6-of-9 from the field, while Justin Taylor came off the bench for six points and six rebounds and Teathloach Pal added eight points.
 
USF was 38-of-63 from the field for an astounding 60.3 percent from the field. Sioux Falls was 14-of-25 from beyond the arc for 56.0 percent. They struggled from the stripe where they were just 8-of-14 for 57.1 percent. The Cougars won the rebounding edge on the night 36-32.
 
After multiple missed shots by each team, USF was the first to put points on the board with a three-point shot by Drew Maschoff.Proceeding that was a pair of layups to give them a 7-0 run. It was Freshman Ben Juhl to score the first points for Minnesota Crookston, going 1-of-2 on free throws a little less than five minutes into the game. USF kept on the gas though, scoring another pair of layups giving them the 11-1 lead. Harrison Cleary soon thereafter hit a big three to get Minnesota Crookston rolling a little down seven, 11-4. USF would lead 24-13 with 6:59 remaining after an Evans triple. Only to be answered by a layup for Alan Hodge Jr. (Jr., G, Dallas, Texas) on the very next drive, for his first points of the night. USF then went on a 6-3 run with two jumpers and two free throws split up by a three from Hodge to move their lead to 30-18. Harrison Cleary then started to find his niche hitting a three, two layups, and a jumper to give the Golden Eagles a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 32-25 with 2:58 remaining in the first half. Sioux Falls responded as they had a dominating last three minutes of the first half with a 9-2 run to move their advantage to 41-27 going in to the locker room.
 
USF came out ready in the second half, going on a 21-4 shooting spree to extend their advantage to 62-31 with 15:42 remaining in the game. Minnesota Crookston would counter with a 6-0 run led by back-to-back old-fashioned three-point plays from Sadaunykas to cut the deficit to 62-37. Minnesota Crookston would get within 23 points at 68-45 following a pair of Cleary free throws, but that would be as close as it would get as Sioux Falls closed the game on a 30-21 run to come away with a 98-66 victory.
 
Minnesota Crookston will look to continue to show improvement next season, something they have continued to do under Head Coach Dan Weisse as they moved from eight wins in 2016-17 to 10 during the 2017-18 campaign. The Golden Eagles had just three wins in 2015-16. Minnesota Crookston continues to gain more experience in their core. The Golden Eagles are slated to have a veteran roster in 2018-19 with six seniors and three juniors returning.