ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State University shot 80.6 percent from the field in the first half as they raced to a 101-58 win over University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball Sat., Dec. 7 at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D. The Golden Eagles struggled to slow down a potent Wolves offense on the evening, and Minnesota Crookston's offense was unable to close the gap in the loss.

Minnesota Crookston remains winless all-time in front of the nation's largest NCAA Division II crowd year-in and year-out at Wachs Arena. The Golden Eagles fall to 6-3 (2-1 NSIC) with the loss to Northern State. The Golden Eagles have still matched their best start in program history as they went 6-3 in the first nine games during their historic 2018-19 season in which they finished with a program-record in wins in the NCAA Division II era. Northern State moved to 6-3 (2-1 NSIC) with Saturday's victory.

Minnesota Crookston did pick up the split with their first win at Minnesota State University Moorhead since 2009 on Friday night. The Golden Eagles remain in a strong spot in the NSIC North as they are in a tied for second in the NSIC North, along with the Wolves.

The Golden Eagles were led by Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.), who came into the night as the nation's leading scorer. Cleary had 17 points on 6-of-13 from the field and just 1-of-4 from beyond the arc. The 17 points was a season-low for Cleary, who was held under 20 points for just the second time this season. Cleary had been averaging 36.5 points per game in the last two. Cleary inches closer to Gage Davis' all-time NSIC mark, needing 332 points to pass the St. Cloud State University great.

Javier Nicolau (Sr., F/C, Castellon, Spain) added nine points and five boards. Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., F, Birmingham, England) finished with six points, Zach Westphal (R-Fr., G, West Fargo, N.D.) chipped in seven points, a career-high for Westphal. Quintin Winterfeldt (Fr., G/F, Waupun, Wis.) also set a career-high with five points, while Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., G/F, Detroit, Mich.) also notched five points.

Destiny Chikwem-Stanley (Jr., F/C, Missouri City, Texas) also tied a career-high with four points.

Minnesota Crookston was 22-of-56 from the field for 39.3 percent. The Golden Eagles were 5-of-15 from beyond the arc for 33.3 percent. The Golden Eagles were just 9-of-15 from the charity stripe for 60.0 percent.

Northern State shot a remarkable 40-of-59 from the field for 67.8 percent, and were 12-of-23 from beyond the arc for 52.2 percent. The Wolves were 9-of-14 from the stripe for 64.3 percent. Northern State controleld the boards 36-20 on the night. 

Northern State got out to a 4-1 lead after a Stark lay-up. Minnesota Crookston tied the game up early with a Jassey-Demba trey.

The Wolves countered with a 5-0 run to push the lead to 9-4. The Golden Eagles pulled within 11-8 on a dunk from Nicolau. Northern State countered with an 11-2 run to push their lead out to 22-10 on a Jordan Belka bucket.

Minnesota Crookston trimmed the deficit to 22-13 on a Cohen triple with 12:45 remaining in the first half. Northern State responded again with a 9-0 run culminating with a Fox dunk to push the gap to 31-13.

The Golden Eagles utilized a 4-2 run with a Nicolau dunk to trim the lead to 33-17. From there though it was all Northern State as they went on a 21-0 run ending with a Stark trey to give the Wolves a 54-17 advantage.

Minnesota Crookston was finally able to halt the run with a Jassey-Demba triple with 3:15 remaining in the half. Belka countered on the other end for the Wolves to push the gap to 57-20.

Minnesota Crookston took the deficit down to 62-27 with a pair of Cleary free throws with 26.5 seconds left in the half. That would be the tally going into the locker room.

Northern State controlled the pace of play in the first half shooting 25-of-31 from the field for 80.6 percent. The Wolves were 8-of-11 from behind the three-point for 72.7 percent.

Northern State was guided by Fox with 14 points, while Stark added 10 points. King chipped in nine points, while Belka added eight.

The Golden Eagles shot 10-of-27 from the field for 37.0 percent. Minnesota Crookston was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc for 42.9 percent.

The Golden Eagles were out-rebounded 17-5 in the first half.

Minnesota Crookston was able to cut the deficit to 65-30 for a 35-point gap off a Nicolau jumper, but that would be as close as the Golden Eagles would get as Northern State's big first half would be enough to secure the 101-58 win.

The Golden Eagles will return to action Fri., Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m., against Augustana University at Lysaker Gymnasium.