Crookston, Minn. – Minnesota Crookston, playing shorthanded, stuck with Minnesota Duluth for the first 20 minutes, but the Bulldogs pulled away for a 109-69 victory on Thursday night in men's basketball.
 
The Golden Eagles will close out their season on Saturday at 2-25 (1-20 NSIC).
 
The first ten minutes of the game would be a shooting clinic for the Bulldogs.
 
A good jumper from Rambo Badyal (Sr., G, Kelowna, British Columbia), playing in his final home game, would make it a three point game, at 17-14.
 
De'Antray Hughes (Jr., F, New Orleans, La.) would finish a layup to cut the lead to one, but from there, the Bulldogs would go on an 18-0 run to take a 19 point lead.
 
After that run, the Golden Eagles would answer with a 12-0 run of their own, capped off by an Xzavier Jones (Jr., G, Milwaukee, Wis.) layup.
 
Back-to-back three's from Badyal would send the good crowd inside Lysaker Gymnasium into a frenzy and the Golden Eagles down at the break by just four.
 
In the second half, UMD would do all they can to avoid the upset, including shooting 71 percent from the field and a whopping 11-17 from three.
 
UMD would score 63 second half points for the 109-69 victory.
 
Badyal finished with 21 points and four boards, while Jones and Matthew Allman (R-Jr., G, London, England) scored 15 and 12, respectively.
 
The Golden Eagles shot 41 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from deep.
 
Minnesota Crookston will close out the 2022-23 season on Saturday in St. Cloud for a date with the Huskies. Tip-off is set for 5:30 P.M.