Bismarck, N.D.—The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team hit the road for an NSIC matchup with the University of Mary Marauders.
 
The Marauders used a big second half to defeat Minnesota Crookston 76-67.
 
With the win, the Marauders move to 8-11 overall an 5-8 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles fall to 13-9 overall and 6-6 in the NSIC.
 
The Marauders would start out fast, converting three straight Golden Eagles turnovers into three straight buckets for the Marauders, including a Dennis Austin III lay-up to cap off the 6-0 start for UMary.
 
Chase Knickerbocker (Sr. G/F, Annandale, Minn.) got the Golden Eagles on the board with a deep three from the left wing to get the Golden Eagles on the board.
 
The Marauders would eventually stretch the lead early on in the first half to 14-6. Minnesota Crookston would go on an 8-3 run to cut the UMary lead to 17-14 midway through the first half.
 
The game would continue to be back and forth between the two NSIC North foes, and was tied at 28 all after a deep three from the right corner from Harrison Cleary (Jr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.). With that make, Cleary is now eighth all-time in NSIC scoring, moving past former St. Cloud State Husky Scottie Stone.
 
Minnesota Crookston would take their first lead of the game after a Brian Sitzmann (R-Fr., G, Savage, Minn.) three pointer from the left wing gave the Golden Eagles the lead at 34-32. That would be the score at halftime.
 
In that first half, the Golden Eagles were led by Cleary with seven, and Josh Collins (Sr. F, Minneapolis, Minn.), Malcolm Cohen (R-Jr. G/F, Detroit, Mich.) and Sitzmann each added six for Minnesota Crookston.
 
The Marauders were led by Upper Iowa transfer Dennis Austin III and Matthew Kreklow with eight points in that first half.
 
The Golden Eagles shot 44 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from behind the arc. Minnesota Crookston had an uncharacteristic ten turnovers which led to 13 UMary points.
 
The Marauders shot 38.5 percent from the field in the first half and were held to just 16 percent shooting from behind the arc.
 
The second half would start much like the first half would be, a back and forth affair. Minnesota Crookston would get on the board first with a Knickerbocker pull-up three to give the Golden Eagles their biggest lead of the game at 37-32.
 
Sitzmann would knock down his third three of the game to cut the Marauder lead to 60-58 with 6:58 left in the game.
 
UMary would go on a 6-0 run to take a 69-60 lead with 4:38 left after a Matthew Kreklow layup.
 
The Marauders would finish the game off with clutch free throws to hold off the Golden Eagles down the stretch.
 
Minnesota Crookston was led by Brian Sitzmann, who scored 14 points, including making four from behind the arc. Knickerbocker added 14 points as well. Javier Nicolau (Jr., C, Castellon, Spain) added eight points, including his first three pointer on the season.
 
The Marauders were led by South Australian native Tom Kubank, who had 16 points to lead the way in the victory.
 
The Marauders shot 36.4 percent on the night and after making just one three in the first half, the Marauders made five in the second half.
 
Minnesota Crookston shot 22 of 50 from the field, good for 44 percent on the game. The Golden Eagles had 17 turnovers during the game.
 
The Golden Eagles are back in action tomorrow night as they will look to get a split in the North Dakota trip, as they head north to take on the Beavers of Minot State. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. tomorrow night from the Minot Dome.