ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team led the nation's No. 1 team Northwest Missouri State University at half, but ultimately fell 60-52 Fri., Nov. 8 at Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Mo. The Bearcats outscored the Golden Eagles 35-26 after Minnesota Crookston went into the locker room with a 26-25 advantage.

Minnesota Crookston opens the 2019-20 season with a 0-1 mark despite a strong effort on Friday. Northwest Missouri State moves to 3-0 on the season. Friday was the closest any team has played the Bearcats in the regular-season. Northwest Missouri State beat No. 9 Southern Nazarene by 12 last weekend, and No. 22 Daemen by 20. The Bearcats had played Division I stalwart Duke University to only a six-point loss in exhibition play.

Northwest Missouri State came into the night averaging 92.5 points. The Golden Eagles held the Bearcats 32.5 points under their average coming into Friday evening. Northwest Missouri State is the defending NCAA Division II National Champion.

Minnesota Crookston was led by 18 points from two-time All-NSIC First Team pick Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who was 4-of-4 from the field, 3-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Brian Sitzmann (R-So., G, Savage, Minn.) added 15 points on 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line. In the post, Javier Nicolau (Sr., F/C, Castellon, Spain) led the way with eight points and nine boards. Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., F, Birmingham, England ) had five rebounds.

Off of the bench, Chase Johnson (R-Jr., F/C, La Crosse, Wis.) came in for four points, while Ben Juhl (Jr., G, Clive, Iowa) had five points.

The Golden Eagles shot 17-of-51 for 33.3 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 7-of-26 from beyond the arc for 26.9 percent and 11-of-13 from the foul line for 84.6 percent.

The Bearcats narrowly out-rebounded Minnesota Crookston 39-30.

Northwest Missouri State shot 20-of-50 from the field for 40.0 percent. The Golden Eagles held the Bearcats at bay from behind the three-point line as they were just 2-of-17 for 11.8 percent from distance.

Trevor Hudgins paced the Bearcats with 28 points on 9-of-13 from the field. Ryan Hawkins chipped in 16 points and 13 boards, along with five assists. Diego Bernard added seven points and eight rebounds, but also had eight turnovers on the night.

Minnesota Crookston got out to an early 7-4 lead after a Nicolau bucket with just under 14 minutes left in the half. A Cleary triple pushed the advantage out to 10-4 later in the quarter.

Northwest Missouri State charged back as they used a Hawkins lay-in to cut the deficit to 10-8.

The Golden Eagles countered as Sitzmann drained a trey with 11:03 left. Minnesota Crookston widened the gap to 18-10 on a Cleary trey with 9:44 left in the half.

The Bearcats responded with an 8-0 run as they knotted the game up 18-18 with a pair of Ryan Welty free throws.

The Golden Eagles held off the charging Bearcats as they moved into a 22-19 lead with a Nicolau basket.

Northwest Missouri State pulled within one point at 24-23 after a Hudgins fast-break basket with 3:32 left. Minnesota Crookston responded on the other end with a Nicolau hoop to push the lead out to 26-23.

Neither team scored for nearly three minutes, until Northwest Missouri State ended the half with a pair of free throws from Hawkins to cut the lead to 26-25.

The Bearcats raced out of the locker room with a 7-0 stamped by a Bernard dunk with 17:06 left in the game. Minnesota Crookston snapped the run with a jumper from Johnson with 15:59 remaining in the stanza.

Northwest Missouri State was able to push their lead out to 41-30 with a Tyler Dougherty basket. Minnesota Crookston countered and brought it back within eight using a timely Juhl trey with 11:33 left in the game.

The Golden Eagles would get the deficit down to 45-38 on a Johnson basket off an offensive board with 8:24 left in the game. They followed it up with a pair of Cleary free throws to bring the game within 45-40 with six minutes remaining.

However, Northwest Missouri State countered using back-to-back Hudgins hoops to widen the gap to 49-40.

Minnesota Crookston would try to put a dent in the lead but the Bearcats responded every time. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 59-52 on a Sitzmann trey with 20 seconds left. Northwest Missouri State held the charge off and won 60-52 despite a valiant effort from Dan Weisse's squad.

The Golden Eagles will face Missouri Western State University at 8 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 9 in St. Joseph, Mo.