CROOKSTON, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Crookston men's basketball team fell 91-53 to No. 6/8 University of Minnesota Duluth Saturday, February 19 at Gary Senske Court at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston, Minn. The Bulldogs opened the game on an 11-0 run and went into the half up 37-21.
Minnesota Crookston finished the season with an 8-19 (5-16 NSIC) record. Minnesota Duluth finished the regular-season with a 23-4 (16-4 NSIC) record. The Bulldogs claimed the NSIC North Championship. Minnesota Duluth now advances on to the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament.
The Golden Eagles were led by
Leonard Dixon (R-Jr., F, Damascus, Ore.) with 13 and five boards.
Uzo Dibiamaka (R-So., G, Adelaide, South Australia) chipped in 12 points.
Nathaniel Powell (R-So., F/C, Nottingham, England) finished with nine points.
Saturday was senior day for the Golden Eagles.
Brian Sitzmann (R-Sr., G, Savage, Minn.) finished with three points. He finished his career with 765 career points. Sitzmann finishes his career sixth all-time in career points, he is 10
th all-time in assists, and sixth all-time in career three-pointers.
Zach Westphal (Sr., G, West Fargo, N.D.) had eight rebounds Saturday.
Silas Xia (Sr., G, Guangzhou, China) hit a three-pointer off the bench for Minnesota Crookston.
The Golden Eagles shot 19-of-64 from the field for 29.7 percent. UMN Crookston went 6-of-29 from beyond the arc for 20.7 percent. The Golden Eagles shot 9-of-12 from the foul line for 75.0 percent. UMN Crookston out-rebounded Minnesota Duluth 39-35.
Minnesota Duluth looked to Joshua Brown with 16 points. Jack Middleton added 16 points. Charlie Katona chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds. Joshua Strong came off the bench for 11 points. Jacob Shields chipped in 10 points and five boards, while Lincoln Meister had eight points and seven rebounds.
The Bulldogs were 34-of-63 from the field for 54.0 percent. UMD shot 13-of-31 from beyond the arc for 41.9 percent. The Bulldogs shot 10-of-13 from the foul line for 76.9 percent.
Minnesota Crookston graduates three seniors. They are set to return a strong core heading into the 2022-23 season as they look to build on the 2021-22 campaign.
