BISMARCK, N.D. – A step-back three-pointer from Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) sealed a 68-62 victory for the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team Sat., Feb. 15 over University of Mary. The Golden Eagles were stellar on the defensive end, as they held the Marauders to 62, their third-lowest total of the season. Minnesota Crookston and UMary went back-and-forth in a great NSIC basketball game, but they were able to ice the game with big plays on both ends.

Minnesota Crookston moves to 11-15 (7-13 NSIC) with Saturday's win over UMary. The victory marks the first for the Golden Eagles at the McDowell Activity Center since Jan. 8, 2012. Minnesota Crookston picks up the sweep of UMary as they have won the last three against the Marauders. UMary falls to 11-15 (6-14 NSIC) with the loss. The Golden Eagles move to sixth in the NSIC North standings. They are currently a game back of Bemidji State University in fifth. Minnesota Crookston picked up the road sweep with Friday's win against Minot State. It is the program's first road sweep since joining NCAA Division II in 1999-00.

Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) paced Minnesota Crookston with 28 points on 9-of-19 from the field, and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also chipped in four assists. Cleary moved past Notre Dame College (Ohio) legend Will Vorhees for 16^th all-time in NCAA Division II history. He now is the highest-scoring player in NCAA Division II since 1992. Cleary has 2,783 career points. He needs 92 points to surpass Ed Murphy of Merrimack and break into the Top 15 all-time.

Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., G/F, Detroit, Mich.) finished with a near double-double of 10 points and nine rebounds. He was 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. Javier Nicolau (Sr., F/C, Castellon, Spain) added 10 points on 5-of-7 from the field. Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., F, Birmingham,, England) finished with six points.

Brian Sitzmann (R-So., G/F, Savage, Minn.) played strong defense on senior point guard Jaylan White, who had to work for the 14 points he obtained. Sitzmann finished with two blocks, including a momentum swinging block that led to a transition bucket late in Saturday's game.

The Golden Eagles shot 26-of-57 for the game for 45.6 percent. They were 8-of-26 from beyond the arc for 30.8 percent, and 8-of-11 for 72.7 percent from the stripe. Minnesota Crookston had great ball movement with 16 assists on 26 field goals.

Matthew Kreklow led the way with 18 points and eight boards. White finished with 14, while Wyatt Carr had 12.

The Marauders were 23-of-55 from the field for 41.8 percent. UMary shot 3-of-15 from behind the three-point line for just 20.0 percent.

The Marauders catapulted themselves out to a 5-0 lead after a three from Carr and a pair from White. The Golden Eagles responded with a 4-0 run as a Jassey-Demba free throw brought Minnesota Crookston within 5-4. UMary was able to counter and push the advantage out to 10-4 with a Trever Kaiser basket with 13:16 remaining in the first half.

Minnesota Crookston answered with a 7-0 run of their own spurred on by five points from Cleary as they took the 11-10 lead. The two teams would exchange buckets before the Marauders would push out to a 16-13 lead following a Jordan free throw. The foul was on Cleary, his second, as he went to the bench until 3:39 left in the first half.

Zach Westphal (R-Fr., G, West Fargo, N.D.) came off the bench and quickly scored to bring the score within 16-15. Minnesota Crookston would tip the scales in their favor as Cohen drained the three-pointer and was fouled, converting the shot from the charity stripe to put the Golden Eagles ahead 19-18.

The two teams would remain close, but the Marauders would push out to a 38-23 lead following a Justin Engg basket. The Golden Eagles were able to trim the deficit to 28-25 following two points from Johnson with 3:53 remaining in the first half.

A White three-pointer with just over three minutes left in the first stanza gave the Marauders their largest lead of the first half at 31-25. Minnesota Crookston countered as Quintin Winterfeldt (Fr., G/F, Waupun, WIs.) found Cohen for a trey to cut the lead for UMary to 31-28. White hit another big shot with two minutes left to put the Marauders ahead 33-28. However, the Golden Eagles had the answer as Johnson found Sitzmann at the hoop for the deuce to cut the lead to 33-30.

After missed chances from both teams, Minnesota Crookston responded as Cleary got the lane for a pair to trim the lead to 33-32 going into the break. The score moved to 33-33 as they ruled a Cohen three-pointer earlier in the half a three-pointer.

White and Cleary each trade baskets out of the gate in the second half as the score remained tied up. The Marauders took the lead 39-35 following baskets from Carr and Kreklow. Minnesota Crookston trimmed the lead to two at 39-37 as Cleary found Nicolau at the hoot for a pair. Nicolau paid the favor back as he found Cleary this time at the hoop for two as they knotted up the tally 39-39.

A Kreklow jumper put the Marauders back ahead 41-39. However, Cleary had the answer on the other end as Sitzmann found him for the trey giving the Marauders a lead at 42-41. A pair of Cleary free throws gave the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the night at 44-41. Cleary then found Nicolau for the dunk as they pushed the run to 5-0 and the lead to 46-41.

Kaiser halted the run as he hit 1-of-4 from the stripe to trim the Golden Eagle lead to 46-42 with 12:42 remaining in the tilt. A Kaiser jumper brought the lead back down to two at 46-44.Minnesota Crookston stopped the run as Cleary made a pretty pass to Johnson in the post for a pair to extend the lead to 48-44.

The Marauders had the answer as a pair of Kreklow free throws and a Kaiser old-fashioned three-point play made it a 5-0 run, giving UMary the 49-48 lead with 9:54 left to tick off the clock in Saturday's tilt. The Marauders pushed their run to 8-0 as Carr drained a trey from the wing to give UMary a 52-48 lead.

Minnesota Crookston answered as Cleary threaded the needle to Nicolau for a thunderous dunk to trim the lead to 52-50. A technical foul called on UMary as Cleary hit a pair from the stripe to knot the game at 52-52 with 8:26 left in the tilt. Glenn Jordan found Kreklow for the dunk for tilt the scoreboard in the favor of UMary 54-52.

Minnesota Crookston again responded as Cohen found Nicolau for yet another dunk to tie the game up 54-54. Jordan hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to give the Marauders a 55-54 lead. Minnesota Crookston countered as Cleary hit a step-back jumper and a pair of free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 58-55 lead with 5:54 remaining in the game.

Lucas Mayer cut the deficit for UMary back to one at 58-57 after hitting a pair from the line. Minnesota Crookston fought right back as Cleary drained the triple to push the lead back out to 61-57. A put-back from Mayer brought the Marauders back within 61-59. UMary looked to have a pair at the other end but Sitzmann stuffed the shot at the basket, which transitioned into two from Jassey-Demba to widen the gap to 63-59 with 4:04 left in the game.

Carr drove the lane for two for the Marauders to trim the Golden Eagle lead to 63-61. Sitzmann countered with a big jumper to the push the lead to 65-61 with three minutes left in the affair. White hit 1-of-2 from the stripe for UMary to bring the deficit down to 65-62.

The Marauders had a chance to tie it up with under a minute left as Josh Sipes fired a three from the top of the arc but it was an errant. The Golden Eagles looked to put the dagger in the win as Cleary stepped back from beyond the arc and sank the triple to give Minnesota Crookston the 68-62 lead.

UMary would have won last chance but the Golden Eagles would hang on for the 68-62 win.

Minnesota Crookston returns home for one last time during the 2019-20 slate, as they take on University of Minnesota Duluth Fri., Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m.