Duluth, Minn. -- Minnesota Crookston men's basketball opened up the 2024-25 season against Oklahoma Baptist, the number 10 team in the preseason Central region poll.
Minnesota Crookston had a great first half, but the Bison made big buckets in the second half for the 11 point, season opening victory.
Minnesota Crookston falls to 0-1 on the season.
Aguek Deng (R-Sr., F, Des Moines, Iowa) would hit from deep on the first possession, giving the Golden Eagles an early 3-0 lead.
OBU would take a 7-3 lead, but
Reid Grant (Sr., G, Johnston, Iowa), one of the best three-point shooters in the NSIC last season, would bury a pair of three's and
Micah Garrett (Jr., G, Portland, Ore.) would cash in on a three for his first Golden Eagle points, helping the Golden Eagles regain a 12-9 lead.
Chandler Meeks (R-So., G, Omaha, Neb.) would score his first points of the season, after missing all of last season, giving the maroon and gold a 14-11 lead.
Later on in the first half, the Golden Eagles would have a 26-25 lead, but
Andrew Stokes (Jr., F, Westchester, Ill.) would catapult a 10-1 run with a layup.
A Meeks layup would give the Golden Eagles a 39-31 lead, but the Bison would come back and tie the game up right before the half, but a Grant floater would give the Golden Eagles a two-point lead heading into the locker room.
Jordan Mitchell (R-Sr., F, Columbus, Ohio) would give the Golden Eagles their first points of the half, and retake a 43-41 lead.
The Bison would take their largest lead of the night up to that point at six, but Garrett would connect on a big three from the wing, cutting the lead to three.
Later on in the half, OBU would start to pull away and take a 70-54 lead, which would force a Bryan Beamish timeout.
The Golden Eagles would continue to fight and chip away. Grant would finish a layup, cutting the lead to single digits at eight.
A pair of free throws from Meeks would get the Golden Eagles within seven, but that's as close as they would get, as the Bison would grind out an 11-point victory.
Meeks was outstanding in his season debut, scoring 18 points on 6-14 shooting from the field. Grant added a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, while also dishing out five assists. Garrett added 14 points in his Golden Eagle debut and buried four three's. Mitchell finished with 10 points and three rebounds, while also finishing with a career-high six blocks. Stokes finished with nine points and four rebounds and was a perfect 3-3 from the field.
The Golden Eagles shot 38.5 percent from the field and were 10-32 from deep. OBU shot 22 more free throws than the Golden Eagles in the game.
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will be back in action tomorrow morning against East Central University, who lost in triple overtime to Minot State, earlier today. Tip-off is set for 11 A.M., from Romano Gymnasium.
