Winona, Minn.—Minnesota Crookston was looking to make it two wins in a row on Friday night on the road at Winona State.
 
After shooting a scorching-hot 64.4 percent from the field in the first half and 21 first half points from Kevion Taylor, Winona State would hold off a furious Golden Eagle second half rally, to defeat Minnesota Crookston 80-66.
 
With the win, the Warriors improve to 9-8 on the season (6-5 NSIC), while the Golden Eagles fall to 8-9 (4-7 NSIC).
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a fast start, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead, after starting 3-3 from the field and forced two Warrior turnovers. Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr. F, Detroit, Mich.), Javier Nicolau (Sr., F, Castellon, Spain) and Ibu Jassey Demba (Jr., F, Birmingham, England) each scored in that stretch.
 
The Warriors would answer with seven straight points to take a one point lead, but Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) answered with a three to regain the lead.
 
The first half would continue to be back and forth, but the Warriors could seemingly not miss from the 3-point line, extending their lead to 10, at 31-21. Brian Sitzmann (R-So., G, Savage, Minn.) would cut the lead to six after a nice reverse layup.
 
On back-to-back possessions, Winona State would make two straight shots from behind the arc, including three of Kevion Taylor's 21 points first half points.
 
Winona State would extend their lead to 19 heading into the halftime break, 50-31.
 
For the Golden Eagles, they were led by Cleary's 11 points and had a number of players with four points, including Jassey Demba, Sitzmann, Chase Johnson (R-Jr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) and Tyrese Shines (Fr., G, La Grange, Ill.). As a team, Minnesota Crookston shot just 34.4 percent, compared to Winona State's 63.3 percent in the first half.
 
The Golden Eagles would score the first four points of the second half, but Winona State would regain their 19 point lead with four-straight of their own.
 
The Golden Eagles would start to get stops in the second half and would get as close as twelve a number of times. Cleary would get the old-fashioned three-point play to cut the Warrior lead to 72-60 with 3:27 left in the game.
 
The Warriors would get as close as 11, but a Caleb Wagner three would stretch the lead to 14, which would be enough for the Warriors.
 
The Golden Eagles had three in double-figures, led by Cleary's 17, followed by Johnson's 13 and Sitzmann with 11. The difference in the game was from the 3-point line. Winona State made 12 3-point shots, compared to just four for Minnesota Crookston.
 
Minnesota Crookston is back at it tomorrow night for a date with Upper Iowa. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m., from Fayette, Iowa.