SHOOTING WOES PLAGUE MINNESOTA CROOKSTON MEN’S BASKETBALL IN LOSS TO WAYNE STATE

The University of Minnesota Crookston men’s basketball team shot just 36% from the field in a 72-52 loss to the Wayne State Wildcats in an NSIC game played at Rice Auditorium in Wayne, Nebraska.
After Minnesota Crookston’s Ben Juhl (Soph., Clive, IA) made a jump shot on the first possession of the game to give the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead, both teams would go scoreless until 14:59 remaining in the half when a pair of Wildcats free throws tied the game at 2-2. Brian Sitzmann (Fr., Savage) answered with back-to-back lay-ups to take a 6-2 lead. Wayne State made a three-pointer to spark an 8-0 run to take a 10-9 lead. A Gable Smith Smith (Sr., Lodi, WI) dunk brought UMC within 24-22 with 4:11 to play in the first half before Wayne State scored six straight points in route to a 30-22 lead. Trailing 34-24, Ben Juhl made a three-pointer with 9-seconds left in the first half cutting UMC’s deficit down to 34-27 at halftime.
Harrison Cleary (Jr., Oak Creek, WI) made a lay-up to open the second half scoring followed by a free throw from Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., Andover) trimming the Golden Eagles’ deficit down to 36-30. The Wildcats countered with a 6-0 run to pull ahead 42-30. Minnesota Crookston answered with their own 6-0 run to pull back within six points. UMC’s shooting started to cool off allowing Wayne State to go on another 7-0 run to take a 51-36 lead with 9:07 to play. The Golden Eagles were unable to trim the deficit down to single digits the rest of the game and the Wildcats handed UMC its third straight NSIC road loss 72-52.
Minnesota Crookston drops to 7-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play. The Golden Eagles head on the NCAA Division II holiday break and will return to the court on December 30 when UMC hosts Bemidji State at 4 p.m. Wayne State improves to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in the NSIC.