Crookston, Minn.—A 12-0 run late in the first half was enough for Sioux Falls to give Minnesota Crookston their third straight home loss, knocking off the Golden Eagles, 77-62.
 
With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 9-13 overall (5-11 NSIC), while the Cougars improve to 17-5 (13-3 NSIC).
 
The first half would be back and forth, especially early on. Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., F, Detroit, Mich.) buried his second of four 3-point makes, to give the Golden Eagles their first lead of the game at 10-9.
 
There would be many ties throughout the first half, but Minnesota Crookston would take their largest lead of the first half at four, after a Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Minn.) layup. That was the only basket of the first half for the all-time NSIC scoring leader.
 
Jack Thompson would score eight of the Cougars 12 points during their large first half run, to help the Cougars take a 35-27 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Cougars shot 40 percent from the field, compared to just 34 percent for the Golden Eagles in the first half.
 
Cleary would come out of the halftime break and score five straight points to cut the Cougar lead to just three at 35-32.
 
The Cougars would answer with an 11-0 run of their own to stretch the lead to 14, their largest lead of the game.
 
The Golden Eagles would trail by 11, but Cleary and Quintin Winterfeldt would bury back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to seven, followed by a Cleary steal and make to cut the lead to just five, forcing a Chris Johnson timeout.
 
That timeout proved to be effective, as the Golden Eagles would score just two points over the next six minutes.
 
The Cougars were able to bury free throws to leave Crookston with a 15 point victory.
 
Individually, Minnesota Crookston was led by Cleary who had 22 points and six assists. Cohen had 12 points, while Brian Sitzmann (R-So., G, Savage, Minn.) poured in nine points. Winterfeldt scored a career-high five points.
 
The Golden Eagles shot just 40.7 percent from the field and their 3-point shooting woes continued, shooting just 7-26 from behind the arc.
 
Minnesota Crookston will now head on the road for four-straight games, starting next Friday night at Minnesota State Mankato. Tip-off is set for 7:30 from the Taylor Center.