The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team finished their trip to the Carribean with a 2-1 record after beating the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras 63-44 in the Puerto Rico Basketball Classic being held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Minnesota Crookston avoided the slow start that has plagued them throughout the start of the season by shooting 54% from the field in the first half while holding their opponents to just 8-27 shooting in the opening twenty minutes. The Golden Eagles hot shooting in the first half cooled off after halftime, but the 23-point halftime lead proved too much to overcome for Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras as UMC was able to close out the 63-44 victory. Minnesota Crookston was led offensively by Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., Annandale) who scored a game-high 29 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. While Knickerbocker was the Golden Eagles lone double-figure scorer, Josh Collins (Sr., Minneapolis) added 8 points and 5 rebounds. Off the bench, Brian Sitzmann (R-Fr., Savage) led the way with 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
The Golden Eagles improve to 6-2 and will open NSIC conference play next Saturday at Bemidji State with tip-off set for 4 p.m. and the Riverview Health pregame show starting at 3:30 p.m.
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| UMC | 42 | 21 | 63 |
| UPR-Rio Pedras | 19 | 25 | 44 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Chase Knickerbocker | 29 | 6 | 4 assists |
| Josh Collins | 8 | 5 | |
| Brian Sitzmann | 5 | 6 | 6 assists |
| Harrison Cleary | 5 | 5 | 5 assists |
| Chase Johnson | 4 | 6 | |
| Malcolm Cohen | 4 | 3 | 3 blocks |
| Gable Smith | 3 | 6 | 2 blocks |
| Darin Viken | 3 | ||
| Aaron Hollcraft | 2 | 1 |
