SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team forced 23 turnovers on their way to a dominant 94-69 win over University of Sioux Falls. The game was the final tilt of the non-conference slate for Minnesota Crookston. The Golden Eagles looked to 40 points from Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) on 11-of-19 from the field and a perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe. Brian Sitzmann (R-So., G/F, Savage, Minn.) added a career-high 20 points.

The Golden Eagles move to 5-2 with the win, while Sioux Falls drops to 4-2 with Tuesday's loss at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. Minnesota Crookston finishes their non-conference slate with a 4-2 record. The Golden Eagles improve to 2-1 on the road as they look to improve away from Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles were 2-11 away from the friendly confines of their home arena last year. 

Minnesota Crookston's 94 points were a season-high for the Golden Eagles. The 94 points is the most Sioux Falls has given up on the 2019-20 season. The USF defense had averaged giving up just 61.0 points per game prior to the Golden Eagles offensive explosion on Tuesday night.

Cleary has scored 40 or more points on four occasions. He was just seven points shy of his school-record 47 points set Dec. 7, 2018 against Minnesota State University Moorhead. Cleary was 11-of-19 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 15-of-15 from the foul line. He added six assists and three rebounds.

Sitzmann added 20 points on 7-of-11 from the field, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., G/F, Detroit, Mich.) added 12 points for Minnesota Crookston on 5-of-8 from the field.

Reed Miller (Fr., F, Appleton, Wis.) made his first career start and notched six points, as did Tyrese Shines (Fr., G, La Grange, Ill.). Javier Nicolau (Sr., F/C, Castellon, Spain) and Chase Johnson (R-Jr., F/C, La Crosse, Wis.) led the way with five rebounds apiece.

The Golden Eagles had 13 assists on the game to 12 turnovers. They shot 28-of-54 from the field for 51.9 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 11-of-25 for 44.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 27-of-32 for 84.4 percent from the foul line.

The Golden Eagle defense held Teathloach Pal to two points and six rebounds. Pal came into the night averaging 13.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. Cohen and the Minnesota Crookston team defense did a great job of limiting his chances.

Devin Green paced USF with 16 points and seven boards. Jaxon Simons came off the bench for 11 points. Austin Slater added eight points, while Logan Dreier chipped in nine points. The Sioux Falls starters combined for just 18 points on the game as Minnesota Crookston's defense shut down their production.

Sioux Falls shot 22-of-55 from the field for 40.0 percent. USF was 9-of-22 for 40.9 percent from beyond the arc and 16-of-22 for 72.7 percent from the foul line. The Cougars had the rebounding edge on the night 35-27, including 16 offensive rebounds. They had 11 assists to 23 turnovers on the game.

The Golden Eagles opened up the game with the first basket as Cohen got to the hoop for a pair. Minnesota Crookston pushed their advantage to 7-0 following five-straight points from Cleary

The Golden Eagles kept Sioux Falls off the scoreboard until the 16:12 mark as Green finished off an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the deficit to 7-3.

Cleary hit a baseline jumper to push Minnesota Crookston's lead out to 9-3.  Cohen got a tear-drop jumper in the lane to extend the advantage to 11-4.
Sioux Falls climbed back into the fray with a three-pointer from Milan Surlic to slice the lead to 11-7. Zac Olson (R-So., F, Waterville, Minn.) responded on the other end with a clutch triple to push the advantage back out to 14-7. Cleary put in eight-straight for Minnesota Crookston to widen the gap to 22-7 with 9:35 remaining in the first half.

A Sitzmann triple followed by three free throws from Miller extended a 17-0 run for the Golden Eagles to push the lead out to 28-7. Cohen hit a trey for Minnesota Crookston to push the run to 20-0 and Minnesota Crookston's advantage to 31-7.

Slater snapped the run for the Cougars with a bucket in the paint to cut the lead to 34-9. Slater's bucket ended a cold streak that lasted over seven minutes. After a defensive stop for Sioux Falls, Trevon Adams sank a trey to slice the deficit to 34-12.

Minnesota Crookston responded with five-straight points from Cleary to widen their lead out to 39-12 with 6:16 left in the first half. The Golden Eagles held a 43-16 lead after a Sitzmann pull-up jumper.

Minnesota Crookston utilized a Cleary trey to push the lead out to 51-23. Chase Grinde hit a basket and a pair of free throws to slice the deficit to 51-27 with 15.2 seconds remaining in the first stanza. Sitzmann drained a triple to extend the lead out to 54-27 going into the locker room.

The Golden Eagles shot 17-of-30 from the field for 56.7 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 7-of-14 from beyond the arc for 50.0 percent and a perfect 13-of-13 from the foul line. The Golden Eagles had eight assists to just five turnovers in the first half.

Cleary led Minnesota Crookston with 24 points on 7-of-14 from the field. Cohen added 12 points on 5-of-7 from the field. Sitzmann went into the half with eight points.

Sioux Falls was limited to just 9-of-23 from the field for 39.1 percent. The Cougars were 3-of-9 from beyond the arc for 33.3 percent.

Cleary drained a three-pointer for Minnesota Crookston as they extended their lead to 57-27. The Cougars obtained their first points of the second half as Slater hit a pair from the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles responded as Miller connected on a trey from the wing to push the lead out to 61-29.

A Cleary jumper widened the gap to 61-29. However, USF responded on the other end as they hit back-to-back triples from Dreier and Green to pull within 63-35.

The Golden Eagles turned defensive stops into a quick 5-0 run led by five-straight points from Sitzmann to extend the lead to 68-35. A Cleary jumper widened the gap to 35 at 70-35 with under 14 minutes left in the game.

The Cougars stopped a 7-0 run for Minnesota Crookston as Green converted an old-fashioned three-point play to trim the lead to 70-38. A defensive stop for the Cougars led to a three-pointer from Jaxon Simons as they cut the deficit to 70-41.

The Golden Eagles halted a quick 5-0 run by the Cougars as Sitzmann sank a pair from the charity stripe to extend the lead to 72-41 with 12:10 left in the game.

Sioux Falls came right back with a 5-0 run as Dreier hit a triple to trim the lead to 72-46. Minnesota Crookston stopped the run as Cleary hit three at the foul line to push the advantage back out to 75-46 with 9:49 remaining in the game.

A Sitzmann trey and a Cleary jumper just inside the lane pushed the Golden Eagle lead to 80-48. Nicolau pushed toward the hoop for a pair and Cohen found Sitzmann for a fast-break lay-in to extend the run to 9-0 and give Minnesota Crookston an 84-48 lead.

Pal, who came into the game as the team's scoring leader, scored his first basket of the game with 6:33 remaining to cut the lead to 84-50. After a technical foul was called on the Sioux Falls bench, Cleary drained both free throws to push the advantage back out to 86-50. A Shines fast-break lay-up widened the gap to 88-50 with 6:05 remaining in the game.

Cleary scored his 40^th point of the game to extend the advantage to 90-52. A Simons triple for Sioux Falls trimmed the lead to 90-57 with under four minutes remaining in the game.

Destiny Chikwem-Stanley (Jr., F/C, Missouri City, Texas) scored his first three points as a Golden Eagle to push the lead out to 93-61 in favor of Minnesota Crookston. Sioux Falls used four-straight points from Houghton to trim the lead to 93-65 with just over a minute remaining in the game. Minnesota Crookston came away from the game with a commanding 94-69 win.

The Golden Eagles return to action Fri., Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. against Minnesota State University Moorhead at Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.