CROOKSTON, Minn. – Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) scored a career-high 30 points to propel the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team to a second-straight victory 80-66 over Winona State University. The Golden Eagles have now won two-straight over the Warriors.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 12-8 (5-6 NSIC) with Friday's victory. The Golden Eagles now sit alone in fifth place in the NSIC North. Minnesota Crookston is one game back from Minnesota Duluth in fourth place. Winona State falls to 6-11 (3-8 NSIC) with the loss.

Knickerbocker edged his career-high by one point as he notched 30 points on 9-of-17 from the field, and 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. He was also 5-of-7 from the foul line.

Knickerbocker added six rebounds. His previous career high came with 29 points against University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. Knickerbocker is sixth all-time in career scoring for the Golden Eagles with 821 points.

Harrison Cleary (Jr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) finished with 17 points on 5-of-18 from the field, and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Cleary, who was named to the Bevo Francis Award Watch List earlier this week, surpassed University of Minnesota Duluth great Brett Ervin for 10^th all-time in career scoring in the NSIC. Cleary needs 24 points to surpass St. Cloud State University great Dan Hagen for ninth all-time. He needs 31 points to move past another St. Cloud State great in Scottie Stone, who is currently eight all-time in all-time points in conference play. Cleary now needs 116 points to move past Joe Hasz for the all-time scoring record in the history of the Minnesota Crookston program. He currently has 1,802 career points.

Josh Collins (Sr., F, Minneapolis, Minn.) added 13 points and five boards, and also was strong defensively. Collins has been key for the Golden Eagles in recent weeks, as he is averaging 13.3 points per game over the last six games for Minnesota Crookston. Brian Sitzmann (R-Fr., G, Prior Lake, Minn.) added seven points. Gable Smith (R-Sr., F/C, Lodi, Wis.) had five points, nine rebounds, and four blocked shots. Malcolm Cohen (R-Jr., G/F, Detroit, Mich.), and Chase Johnson (R-So., F/C, La Crosse each had seven rebounds.

Minnesota Crookston was 26-of-58 from the field for 44.8 percent. The Golden Eagles shot 12-of-27 from beyond the arc for an impressive 44.4 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 16-of-21 for 76.2 percent from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles had 12 assists to 11 turnovers on the game.

Minnesota Crookston out-rebounded Winona State 41-32.

Winona State was guided by Kevion Taylor with 25 points. Caleb Wagner added 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Tommy Gathje, who had 21 points in a win over Augustana University last weekend, was held to just three points. Luke Martens added seven points.

The Warriors were 25-of-64 from the field for 39.1 percent. Winona State shot just 8-of-30 for 26.7 percent from behind the three-point line. The Warriors were 8-of-12 for 66.7 percent.
Winona State had 11 assists to 10 turnovers.

The Golden Eagles are 10-0 when they hold their opponents under 70 points this season as defense has proven to be key throughout the season for Minnesota Crookston. On the flip side, the Golden Eagles are 2-8 when they give up over 70 points in a game.

Minnesota Crookston wasted no time Friday, as they got out to an 8-0 lead propelled by an old-fashioned three-point play from Collins, along with Knickerbocker's first three-pointer of the game. The Golden Eagles pushed their lead out to 13-2 with a Cleary triple.

Winona State closed to within 16-9 on a Charlie Koontz bucket with 11:23 left in the first half. Minnesota Crookston stopped the charge with an 8-0 run with all eight points coming from Knickerbocker, to push the lead to 24-9.

The Warriors cut the deficit to 27-16 with a Taylor trey. Minnesota Crookston again  would combat Winona State with a 7-0 run, propelled by three points from Knickerbocker. The run pushed the advantage out to 34-16 for the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston continued to ride a strong first half to a 42-24 lead over Winona State going into the locker room.

The Golden Eagles moved their lead out to 54-35 with 14:37 remaining in the game guided by a basket from Collins. Minnesota Crookston continued to hold a sizable lead as a Cohen triple extended their lead to 62-42 with 9:55 left in the game.

The Golden Eagles held a 19-point lead following a Knickerbocker triple with 7:49 remaining in the game. Winona State was able to cut into the lead with a 10-2 run as a Taylor trey sliced the deficit to 67-56 with 5:28 remaining in the game.

Back-to-back buckets from Martens brought the Warriors to within 67-60 with 2:59 remaining in the game. Knickerbocker came up with a big lay-up with 2:29 left in the game to move the lead out to 69-60. Despite the basket, Winona State was able to cut the lead to six points with a pair of free throws.

Minnesota Crookston staved off the Warriors with an 8-0 run down the stretch, as they held on to win 80-66.

The Golden Eagles look to build on their two-game win streak as they take on Upper Iowa University Sat., Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.