Duluth, Minn.—The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team was looking to get their elusive first road win of the season at Minnesota Duluth. The Golden Eagles defeated the Bulldogs on Jan. 5, 96-88 in Crookston.
The Bulldogs proved to be too much down the stretch for the Golden Eagles, who finished off the game with a 76-67 victory.
With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 16-9 overall and 13-9 in NSIC play. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles fall to 16-14 overall and 9-12 in conference play.
The Golden Eagles got off to a blazing start, making two of their first three shots.
Brian Sitzmann (R-fr., G, Savage, Minn.) got the Golden Eagles started with a layup in transition.
Harrison Cleary (Jr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) drilled a three from the right wing for a quick 5-0 lead.
Sitzmann would continue to stay hot, scoring six of the first nine Golden Eagle points. Minnesota Crookston would lead 11-6 at the first media timeout.
The Bulldogs would take a 13-12 lead on a pair of Jake Paper free throws, but the Golden Eagles would answer with a
Chase Johnson (R-So., F, La Crosse, Wis.) midrange jumper for a 14-13 lead.
The game would continue to be back and forth in the first half, with the game seeing ties at 19 and 21 apiece.
Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., G, Annandale, Minn.) tied the game at 19 with a right wing three, followed by a
Josh Collins (Sr., G, Minneapolis, Minn.) layup.
UMD would go on a 6-0 run to take a 29-23 lead late in the first half, but Cleary would bury two free throws to cut the lead to four at 29-25 heading into the halftime break.
Cleary and Sitzmann led the way for Minnesota Crookston with seven and six points, respectively. Knickerbocker would add five more, including one of two Golden Eagle three point makes.
As a team, Minnesota Crookston shot just 9-29 from the field for 31.0 percent and just 2-9 from the three point line. The Golden Eagles would turn the ball over just twice.
Brandon Myer led Minnesota Duluth in scoring in the first half with seven points and the Bulldogs had four players with four points each.
The Bulldogs shot 43.5 percent from the field and 3-6 from the three point line. UMD turned the ball over nine times.
The first half would see three lead changes in the first half and was tied five times.
The second half would continue to be back and forth. The Bulldogs would eventually take an 11 point lead, helped by four technical free throws.
Minnesota Crookston would cut it to four at 36-32 with a
Harrison Cleary fade away jumper.
The Bulldogs would stretch the lead out to 12 at 56-44 midway through the second half.
The Bulldogs would get their biggest lead of the game at 14, but the Golden Eagles would chip away with a pair of three point makes by Knickerbocker and Cleary, to cut the lead to eight at 62-54.
The Golden Eagles would try and chip away at the lead and even at one point cut the Bulldog lead to five, but the Bulldogs proved to be too much down the stretch, finishing off the game with free throws for a 76-67 victory in NSIC play.
Cleary led the way for the Golden Eagles with 23 points, including 16 in the second half. Knickerbocker followed with 13 points, including three makes from behind the three point line. Sitzmann also poured in eight points for Minnesota Crookston.
As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 38.7 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from the three point line. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over just seven times on the night.
Minnesota Crookston stays tied for fifth place in the north half of the NSIC, with Minot State also losing to MSU Moorhead. It's going to come down to the final night in the regular season to determine seeding in a lot of spots.
The Golden Eagles are back in action for the final time in the regular season tomorrow night as they do battle with St. Cloud State University at 5:30 p.m., from Halenback Hall in St. Cloud, Minn. The Golden Eagles defeated the Huskies in early January 76-57.
