UMC Suffers tough OT Loss at Bemidji State

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle men’s basketball team gave up a five-point lead in the final 40-seconds of regulation before falling 96-95 in overtime against the Bemidji State Beavers in their NSIC opener played at the Bemidji State Gymnasium.

Neither side was able to separate in the first half with both teams battling through the opening twenty minutes of the game. Minnesota Crookston got off to a slow offensive start before Josh Collins (Sr., Minneapolis) scored six-straight points for UMC and pulled the Golden Eagles within 10-9 with 14:57 left in the half. Collins added a dunk in transition to his career-high 14 points with 12:33 remaining in the first half giving Minnesota Crookston an 18-17 lead. The Golden Eagles opened up their largest lead of the first half starting with a Chase Johnson (R-Soph., La Crosse, WI) jump shot and ending with five-straight points from Harrison Cleary (Jr., Oak Creek, WI) giving the Golden Eagles a 25-19 lead with 10:07 left to play in the half. Bemidji State answered with seven-straight points at the other end to take a 26-25 lead with 8:24 left in the half. Trailing 37-33 with 0:35 left in the opening half, Harrison Cleary buried a three-pointer to pull the Golden Eagles within 37-36 at halftime. “I thought it took us a while to get going,” explained Minnesota Crookston head coach Dan Weisse. “I didn’t think we played particularly well in the first half. We let them dictate the pace and give Bemidji State a ton of credit.”

Reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Year Gable Smith (R-Sr., Lodi, WI) stole a pass on the perimeter to start the second half and dunked it at the other end with two hands giving UMC a 38-37 lead just 10-seconds into the second half. Bemidji State responded with back-to-back three-pointers to take a 45-40 lead with 17:23 left in the half. With 10:02 left to play, Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., Annandale) hit a three-pointer trimming UMC’s deficit to 57-55. The Beavers responded and Logan Longo (Jr., Aurora, CO) made back-to-back three-pointers pushing the hosts to their largest lead of the game 69-61 with 5:31 left to play in the half. Minnesota Crookston continued to trim the deficit from the free throw line before a Brian Sitzmann (R-Fr., Savage) three-pointer in front of the Golden Eagles’ bench pulled Minnesota Crookston within 72-69 with 4:09 to play in regulation. A Harrison Cleary lay-up on the Golden Eagles next possession sparked a 4-0 run ending with UMC and BSU tied at 73-73 with 3:01 left to play. BSU answered with a jumper to regain the lead, but Gable Smith was fouled on Minnesota Crookston’s next possession and made both free throws tying the game at 75-75. After a defensive stop, Ben Juhl (Soph., Clive, IA) knocked down a floater from the right side of the paint giving UMC a 77-75 lead with 1:55 left. On Minnesota Crookston’s next possession, Chase Knickerbocker curled off a screen catching a pass and firing a three-pointer from the left wing and burying the shot pushing the UMC lead to 80-75 with 1:06 remaining in the second half. Bemidji State’s next possession came up empty and after Harrison Cleary pulled down the rebound, he passed the ball up ahead to Ben Juhl who was fouled at midcourt and sent to the free throw line with UMC in the double bonus and just 35-seconds left in regulation. Juhl clanged both free throws off the rim and Bemidji State pushed the ball up ahead to Logan Longo who buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 0:29 left to play while Josh Collins was called for an off-ball foul against Jacob McNallan (Jr., Andover) under the basket after the three-pointer was counted. McNallan buried both free throws to complete the five-point sequence tying the game at 80-80 with 0:28 left in regulation. Harrison Cleary drove down the left side of the lane and was called for a charge before throwing up his game-winning attempt sending the game to overtime tied at 80-80 following 40 minutes of play. “At the end of the game we’re up five and miss two free throws,” explained Weisse. “They come down and make a five-point play, I’ll have to watch the tape on that. I’ll tell you what, we’ve got to learn how to win in this league.”

Chase Knickerbocker made a pair of free throws to open the extra period by giving UMC an 82-80 lead. Logan Bader (Jr., Milltown, WI) made a three-pointer at the other end gaining the lead for Bemidji State. A Bader lay-up with 3:21 left in overtime gave Bemidji State an 85-84 lead which Knickerbocker countered with a three-pointer giving the Golden Eagles an 87-85 lead. Nader answered with a triple sparking a 6-0 run giving Bemidji State a 91-87 lead. Brian Sitzmann responded with a three-pointer for UMC, but the Golden Eagles were unable to get a defensive stop the rest of the way without sending Bemidji State to the free throw line where Bader and McNallan were able to ice the game. Malcolm Cohen (R-Jr., Detroit, MI) buried a half-court prayer as time expired but it was too little too late as Bemidji State hung on for the 96-95 win. “It’s not going to get any easier,” explained Weisse. “This is a tough loss. We let it slip through our fingers. The fact that we gave up 96 points, that’s a no-no no matter who you’re playing. Give Bemidji credit for how they played today, but I’m really concerned about our guys. I didn’t think we were up to the task today for whatever reason. It’s amazing how you can feel after a one-point win or loss, but we’ve got to learn how to win games.”

UMC falls to 6-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to their home floor at Lysaker Gymnasium on Friday when UMC hosts MSU-Moorhead at 7:30 p.m. Bemidji State improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the NSIC.