Crookston, Minn. – Blaize Sagna (Jr., G, London, England) finished with a career-high 34 points, but it wasn't enough, as the visiting Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears were able to spoil the home opener and knock off the Golden Eagles in men's basketball action, 86-76.
 
Minnesota Crookston falls to 2-1 on the season.
 
The Golden Bears would score the first five points of the game, but Sagna would answer with a pair of layups for a 5-4 deficit.
 
The Golden Eagles would trail 9-4, but Reid Grant (Jr., G, Johnston, Iowa) would score seven straight points of his own to tie the game up at 11.
 
Later on in the half, a Sagna three would give the Golden Eagles their largest lead of the game at 22-17.
 
Trailing by a pair at 23-21, CSP would score nine straight points, but a Sagna three-point play would cut the lead to four.
 
Late in the half, the Golden Eagles would get the game back to five with an Aguek Deng (Jr., F, Des Moines, Iowa) finish in the point.
 
The Golden Bears would head into the halftime break up by 12 despite a career-high 23 first half points from Sagna.
 
The second half would be an outstanding start for the Golden Eagles, as they would strike on their first possession with a bucket from De'Antray Hughes (R-Sr., F, New Orleans, La.) to cut the lead to 10.
 
Grant would bury one of his three makes from deep to make it a 54-42 game, but CSP would go on a 6-0 scamper to stretch their lead to 18.
 
The Golden Eagles would try and chip away. Trailing by 13 midway through the half, Peter Fuchs, Jr. (R-Fr., G, Wausau, Wis.) would answer with a bucket and a Sagna layup would cut the lead to single digits, something the Golden Eagles hadn't done since late in the first half.
 
Late in the game, a Hughes layup would cut the lead to eight at 82-74, but the Golden Bears would bury some free throws to give them the 10 point win.
 
Sagna was outstanding, leading the way with 34 points and six rebounds. Grant added a career-high 17 and added five assists. Deng finished with a career-high nine points and pulled down nine rebounds. Fuchs, Jr., added seven points, while Hughes added five points.
 
As a team, the Golden Eagles continue to shoot the ball well, finishing the game at 51.7 percent as a team.
 
The Golden Eagles will be back on the road as they head to Kenosha, Wis., for the Haribo Classic. Tip-off with Davenport University is set for 5 P.M.