The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle men’s basketball team played a solid game, but a second half run was the difference as the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears held on to win 89-78 in a Northern Sun Conference game played at the Ganglehoff Center in St. Paul.
FIRST HALF –
UMC, coming off its first conference win of the season at Winona State on Friday night, had a great start to the game as they opened play on an 8-2 run with three-pointers from Donez Lindsey (Fresh. Stockton, CA) and Alijah Washington (Jr. San Jose, CA) and a basket from JD Roberts (Jr. Parkville, MO). CSP answered with five straight points before UMC’s Washington made a jump shot for a 10-7 lead over four minutes into the game. CSP started to settle in on both ends of the floor and went on an 8-0 run to take a 15-10 lead. UMC’s Lindsey made a three-pointer before the Golden Bears answered with a three of their own. The teams exchanged baskets, and after a Washington basket, UMC trailed 22-19 with 6:55 left in the half. CSP went on a 14-3 run for a 36-22 lead. A few minutes later, UMC trailed 43-28, and the Golden Eagles ended the half on a 4-0 run to get within a 43-32 deficit going into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
The first two and a half minutes of the second half were a sign of things to come the rest of the half as the teams combined to score 92 points. The teams exchanged baskets and free throws, and CSP led 50-38 before they went on an 11-1 run for a 61-39 lead with five minutes into the half. UMC answered with a 9-2 run with six points from Swenson and a Lindsey three-pointer to get within a 63-48 deficit. The teams exchanged baskets for the next seven minutes and with UMC trailing 78-58, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-2 run with three-pointers from Swenson and Washington and a basket from Kazadi Mukoma Jr. (Jr. Grand Island, NE) to get within an 80-66 deficit with 3:50 remaining. CSP answered with a 6-2 run before UMC countered with a 7-0 run behind three points from Lindsey and two points apiece from Swenson and Mukoma Jr to get within an 86-75 deficit with 24 seconds left. Each team scored three points in the final seconds and Concordia-St. Paul won the game 89-78.
UMC drops to 3-13 overall and 1-9 in the NSIC. Concordia-St. Paul improves to 10-6 overall and 5-5 in the NSIC.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Crookston | 32 | 46 | 78 |
| Concordia-St. Paul | 43 | 46 | 89 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Other |
| Alijah Washington | 24 | 1 assist/1 steal | |
| Spencer Swenson | 19 | 5 | 4 assists |
| Donez Lindsey | 16 | 4 | 4 assists |
| Kuzadi Mukoma Jr | 4 | 3 | 3 blocks/2 assist/1 steal |
| J.D. Roberts | 4 | 5 | 4 assists |
| Brayden Carlson | 3 | 7 | 1 assist/1 block |
| Caden Swenby | 3 | 2 | 1 steal |
| Brady Westphal | 3 | ||
| Chandler Meeks | 2 |
