Crookston, Minn. – Minot State pulled down 19 offensive rebounds, turning into 16 second chance points, propelling the Beavers to a 79-67 victory over Minnesota Crookston in the NSIC opener Tuesday night.
 
Minnesota Crookston falls to 3-3 (0-1 NSIC).
 
The Golden Eagles would strike first on a Blaize Sagna (Jr., G, London, England) three from way downtown.
 
Minnesota Crookston would hold the Beavers scoreless for more than two minutes, but Jaxon Gunville would score his only bucket from the field, a three to tie the score at three apiece.
 
Later on in the half, Peter Fuchs, Jr. (R-Fr., G, Wausau, Wis.) and Aguek Deng (R-Jr., F, Des Moines, Iowa) would give the Golden Eagles an 11-8 lead.
 
A Deng jumper would give the maroon and gold a one point lead midway through the half, but it turned out to be the last lead the Golden Eagles would have.
 
MSU would eventually extend their lead to 26-17, but the run would be halted by a straightaway three from Reid Grant (Jr., G, Johnston, Iowa).
 
The Beavers would head into the halftime break with a touchdown lead, 32-26.
 
Coming out of the halftime break, Grant would tickle the twine on a pair of tough jumpers in the paint to cut the Golden Eagles deficit to just two.
 
A possession later, Sagna would connect on a three to cut the Beaver lead to one at 34-33.
 
Later on in the half, the Beavers would eventually extend their lead to nine. The Golden Eagles would go on a 7-0 run, capped off by a Grant layup, forcing a Beavers timeout with them leading by just a bucker.
 
The timeout would work, as the Beavers would extend their lead to as big as 12 and never let the Golden Eagles within nine, as they would knock off the Golden Eagles by 12.
 
Sagna would play all 40 minutes and would score 24 of his 30 points in the second half on 11-20 shooting from the field and 5-8 from deep. Grant added 13 points and five assists. Fuchs, Jr., scored a career-high eight points, while Ben Hoverson (Jr., F, Grand Forks, N.D.) and Deng each added seven points.
 
Minnesota Crookston shot 46.2 percent from the field and 8-25 from deep.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will have a week and a half off before they continue NSIC play next Friday and Saturday at St. Cloud State and Bemidji State. Tip-off with SCSU is set for 5:30 P.M. from St. Cloud.