Mankato, Minn. – Playing in their final weekend of the regular season, Minnesota Crookston put a scare in the No. 2/4 Minnesota State Mavericks for the first 20 minutes, but the Mavericks would pull away for the 20 point victory on Friday night in NSIC men's basketball action, 82-62.
 
The Golden Eagles fall to 6-21 (3-18 NSIC) on the season.
 
Reid Grant (Jr., G, Johnston, Iowa) would get the Golden Eagles off to a good start with a jumper in the paint for a 2-0 lead.
 
Moments later, Blaize Sagna (Jr., G, London, England) and Aguek Deng (R-Jr., F, Des Moines, Iowa) would finish tough layups in the paint for a 6-3 lead.
 
MSU would answer with five straight points, but Grant would bury a three to give the Golden Eagles back the lead by a point.
 
The first half would continue to stay nip-and-tuck until the Mavs would take their largest lead of the night to that point at five, midway through the half. Once again, Grant would bury a three to get the Golden Eagles back within two. Deng would knot things up at 20 with another layup.
 
MSU would extend their lead to seven, but yet again the maroon and gold would answer with a three, this time from Sagna, who would ring it in from long range.
 
De'Antray Hughes (Sr., F, New Orleans, La.) would score the last points of the half for either team with a layup, cutting the Maverick lead to 35-31, which would be the score at the half.
 
Coming out of the halftime break, the Mavericks would extend their lead to double digits to 11, but Jordan Mitchell (R-Jr., F, Columbus, Ohio) would finish a layup in the paint to get the deficit back down to nine.
 
From that point, the Mavericks would stretch their lead to 59-40, but Grant would finish a mid-range jumper to cut the lead to 59-42.
 
MSU would then start to pull away and eventually take an 82-59 lead late in the game, but Cuinn Berger (Fr., G, Esko, Minn.) would score his first career points as a Golden Eagles with a three with 40 seconds left to make it 82-62, which would be the final tally.
 
Grant would lead the way with 19 points, his fourth straight game in double figures. Grant would also bury five threes, tying a career-high. Sagna finished with 17 points on 5-9 shooting from the field. Deng finished with six points and six rebounds, while Mitchell added five points and seven rebounds.
 
The Mavericks shot 61 percent in the second half, after shooting just 41 percent in the first half.
 
What's Next
The Golden Eagles will close out the regular season tomorrow night on the road at Winona State. Tip-off with the Warriors is set for 5:30 P.M.