BISMARCK, N.D. – The University of Mary defeated the University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team 73-60 Sat., Jan. 30 at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, N.D. The Marauders were 11-of-25 for 44.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Minnesota Crookston falls to 2-8 (1-7 NSIC) with the loss. UMary improves to 4-6 (4-4 NSIC) with Saturday's win. UMN Crookston splits with the Marauders as they earned a win Friday over UMary.

Key Players
Leonard Dixon (Jr., F, Damascus, Ore.) led the way for UMN Crookston with 16 points and eight rebounds. Dixon went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Josh Dilling (Fr., G, Oshkosh, Wis.) added 15 points and six assists. Ibu Jassey-Demba (Sr., F, Bimingham, England) finished with 11 points and nine boards.
UMary was led by Trever Kaiser with 18 points. He went 5-of-7 from behind the three-point line. Wyatt Carr added 15 points. Matthew Kreklow finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Matthew Johnson added 12 points.

Key Statistics
Minnesota Crookston shot 22-of-60 from the field for 36.7 percent, while UMary was 26-of-54 for 48.1 percent on the night. The Golden Eagles were 10-of-28 for 35.7 percent from beyond the arc, while the Marauders went 11-of-25 for 44.0 percent. UMN Crookston shot 6-of-7 from the charity stripe for 85.7 percent.
UMary won the rebounding edge 39-30.

Key Runs
UMary got out to a 9-5 lead with a Kaiser trey at the 16:42 mark. A Brian Sitzmann (R-Jr., G, Savage, Minn.) jumper brought the Golden Eagles within 9-7 at the 15:02 mark. The Marauders countered with a 4-0 run as a Johnson bucket pushed the lead to 13-7. UMary pushed their advantage to 17-9 with a pair of free throws from Carr. UMN Crookston responded with a 5-0 run as a Jassey-Demba trey trimmed the UMary lead to 17-14 with 10:04 left in the first half. Carr and Kaiser hit back-to-back three-pointers for the Marauders to push the UMary lead back out to 23-14. The Golden Eagles responded with a 4-0 run to pull within five with 7:06 left in the half. Minnesota Crookston was able to trim the lead down to three with 5:05 left in the half as Dixon sank a three-pointer. The Marauders pushed the lead out to 34-26 with a Carr three-pointer at the 3:33 mark. UMary went into the locker room with a 37-28 advantage on their counterparts from Minnesota Crookston.

UMary extended their lead to 42-30 early in the second half as Johnson connected on a triple. Minnesota Crookston answered with a three-pointer from Dixon to pull within nine at 42-33. The Marauders would remain in front with a 47-35 lead following a Josh Sipes trey. UMN Crookston got the deficit down to 10 at 53-43 following a Dixon triple with 11:05 left in the game. UMary countered with a Johnson trey and a Kam Warrens bucket to push out to a 15-point lead at 58-43. A Kaiser basket pushed the advantage out to 16 at 62-46 with a 5:12 left in the game.

Minnesota Crookston brought the deficit down to 11 as Dilling hit a jumper and Jassey-Demba drained a trey to make it 64-53. Kaiser came up in a crucial moment with a jumper to widen the gap back out to 13 at 66-53 with 2:25 left in the game. Minnesota Crookston did not give in as Dixon sank a trey to trim the deficit to 67-56 with 2:11 remaining. 11 points is as close as the Golden Eagles would get down the stretch as the Marauders picked up the 73-60 win.

Up Next
UMN Crookston hits the road to take on University of Minnesota Duluth Fri., Feb. 5 at 6 p.m., and Sat., Feb. 6 at 4 p.m.