Minot, N.D.-- Harrison Cleary's (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) 20 points led four Golden Eagles in double-figures, as Minnesota Crookston used dominant defense and balanced offense to upend Minot State, 80-69, in the Minot Dome on Friday night.
 
The win over the Beavers was the first win for the Golden Eagles in the NSIC era and the first win over Minot State since 2004.
 
The Golden Eagles improve to 10-15 (6-13 NSIC), while the Beavers fall to 10-15 (4-15 NSIC).
 
Minnesota Crookston jumped out to a fast 7-2 start, after two-point makes from Ibu Jassey Demba (Jr., F, Birmingham, England) and Javier Nicolau (Sr., C, Castellon, Spain) and a 3-point make from Brian Sitzmann (R-So., F, Savage, Minn.).
 
The Golden Eagles would extend their lead to 13-4, but a Beaver 10-0 run would see Minot State take their first lead of the game at 14-13.
 
From that point, the game would see seven lead changes, until a Cleary layup put the Golden Eagles up for good at 26-25.
 
The Golden Eagles would end the half on an 18-4 run, capped off by a Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., F, Detroit, Mich.) left-handed layup right before the buzzer to put the Golden Eagles up 43-29 at the break.
 
In the second half, the Beavers would cut the lead to 51-40, but a Tyrese Shines (Fr., G, La Grange, Ill.) layup started a 9-0 run, which was capped off by a Zach Westphal (R-Fr., G, West Fargo, N.D.) tough layup. The 20 point lead was the largest of the game.
 
The Beavers would try to chip away at the lead and would eventually cut the lead to just 13, but once again, the Golden Eagles would answer and would stretch the lead to 20 once again, with just over seven minutes left in the game.
 
Nicolau would put the stamp on things finishing a dunk after a great pass from the Illinois native, Shines.
 
Individually, Minnesota Crookston had four in double-figures, led by the 20 from Cleary, 16 from Shines and 11 each from Nicolau and Cohen. Jassey Demba and Sitzmann had eight and six, respectively. The Golden Eagles shot 48.3 percent from the field and were 6-24 from behind the arc, all of the makes were in the first half. The Golden Eagles held the Beavers to just 41 percent shooting from the field.
 
Minnesota Crookston will look to get their first sweep since last February, when they swept Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. Minnesota Crookston will take on UMary tomorrow night from Bismarck, N.D. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m., from the McDowell Activity Center.