UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL UNABLE TO CLOSE GAME IN LOSS TO SIOUX FALLS

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Men’s Basketball team overcame a fourteen-point second-half deficit but failed to close out the game down the stretch in an 82-74 loss to Sioux Falls in an NSIC game played at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Sioux Falls opened the game with the first four points before UMC’s Harrison Cleary (Jr., Oak Creek, WI) scored following a drive to the basket trimming the deficit down to 4-2. The Cougars followed with a 9-0 run to take a 13-2 lead before Malcolm Cohen (R-Jr., Detroit, MI) made a jump shot giving pulling the Golden Eagles within 13-4 with 15:22 to play in the opening half. The Cohen jumper led to four-straight points from Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., Annandale) who played an inspired first half off the bench. A Knickerbocker three-pointer with 12:19 left in the first half brought UMC within 17-14 and a 7-0 run capped off by a Cohen three-pointer with 9:39 left in the opening half gave Minnesota Crookston a 23-21 lead. Five-straight points from Sioux Falls put the Cougars back on top. A Harrison Cleary three-pointer a few possessions later responded for the visitors giving UMC a 30-29 lead. Sioux Falls pulled ahead 39-32 thanks to a 10-2 run with a three-pointer closing out the first half with the Cougars in front 44-37. “They had other guys kind of beat us,” said Minnesota Crookston coach Dan Weisse of USF’s first-half offense. “They made some shots we weren’t prepared for them to make so give them credit for that. We had a good halftime preparation talk and our guys executed that game plan.”

A 5-0 run early in the second half gave the hosts a 53-42 lead with 15:22 to play with two more lay-ups a few possessions later putting Sioux Falls ahead 57-43 with 14:19 remaining. Chase Johnson (R-Soph., La Crosse, WI) made a lay-up before Malcolm Cohen was fouled on back-to-back three-point shots, making four free throws and bringing Minnesota Crookston within 57-49 before Cohen scored back-to-back lay-ups bringing the Golden Eagles within 57-53 with 11:55 remaining. Javier Nicolau (Jr., Castellon, Spain) made a corner three-pointer before two Harrison Cleary free-throws regained the lead for UMC 58-57 with 9:33 to play. Nicolau knocked down another three-pointer on the Golden Eagles next possession giving UMC a 61-58 lead with 8:56 to play. With 7:04 to play, back-to-back Minnesota Crookston lay-ups pushed the visitors in front 65-60. With 3:02 remaining Sioux Falls capped off a 7-0 run to retake a 72-69 lead before Brian Sitzmann (R-Fr., Savage) tied the game with a three-pointer in front of the UMC bench with 2:39 to play. Sioux Falls answered down the stretch with consecutive three-pointers from Trevon Evans (Sr., Wichita, KS) helping the Cougars close out an 82-74 win.

“It was the fight we were looking for,” summarized Weisse. “In the end, we just didn’t make enough play, we kind of crumbled at the end. We had opportunities at the end of the game. Really, when it’s all said and done, they made some plays at the end of the game and we didn’t. We guarded pretty well for the most part but had some breakdowns and Evans made some big shots for them at the end. The effort was there. We were flying around and I haven’t seen that from our team over these past couple of games. We just have to be able to finish games and play better down the stretch.”

Minnesota Crookston falls to 13-12 overall and 6-10 in the NSIC. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday when UMC hosts Minnesota State-Mankato at 7:30 p.m. Sioux Falls improves to 15-7 overall and 10-6 in conference play.