WINONA STATE SHOOTS PAST UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL IN NSIC TOURNAMENT

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Men’s basketball team couldn’t contain a hot shooting Winona State in an 88-57 loss in an NSIC Tournament game played at McCown Gymnasium in Winona. 

First Half –
Winona State set the tone for the night with the first eleven points, including three straight three-pointers from Andrea Lo Biondo (Jr., Legnano, Italy). Chase Johnson (R-Fr., La Crosse, WI) scored Minnesota Crookston’s first basket with a lay-up before Harrison Cleary (Sr., Oak Creek, WI) knocked down a three-pointer trimming the Golden Eagles’ deficit down to 11-5. That would be the closest UMC came to ever taking the lead. “That’s been our problem all year explained Minnesota Crookston head coach Dan Weisse. “When teams go on a run or make a couple of shots, we don’t handle it well mentally for one reason or another. It showed in that first half. I thought we were ready to go, but then the ball got tipped. We didn’t execute well enough.” Winona State used a 12-0 run to take a 23-5 lead. As the lead continued to grow, the Warriors closed the half shooting 8-17 from the 3-point line while holding UMC to 9-36 shooting in the first half as Winona State took a 44-21 lead into the locker room. “It hard to explain it,” lamented Weisse. “We had a gameplan, and we didn’t execute the game plan. We let them get to the three-point line. That’s what they wanted to do. (Winona State) shoots a ton of threes, and we let them.”

Second Half –
Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., Detroit, MI) made a three-pointer to open the second half bringing the Golden Eagles within 20 points of their hosts. Harrison Cleary made back-to-back three-pointers sparking an 8-0 run trimming Minnesota Crookston’s deficit down to 51-32. It was the closest UMC’s comeback would come as the Warriors rolled through the second half closing out an impressive 88-57 win. “First off, this Winona State team is playing really good basketball,” added Weisse. “I would not be surprised if they went down to Sioux Falls and kept going to win a few more games. With that said, it’s more about us. This kind of reminds you how special it is to get to Sioux Falls. We want to do that again. We just have to understand what it takes. It’s not easy. We have to put the work in during the offseason.”

Minnesota Crookston graduates seniors Malcolm Cohen, Harrison Cleary, and Javier Nicolau, who will graduate as the winningest class in program history. “When you spend four years with Harrison and three years with Malcolm and Javier, that’s the other part of all this,” explained Weisse. “They put a lot of time and effort in. They gave us so much energy to take this program to places we’ve never been to before. We’re going to miss those guys. You’re never going to replace those guys, but the goal is to bring in new players that possess the values that we’re looking for and can make us a better team. What these seniors have done is elevated the program. Now we need to add guys that can continue to elevate the program.”

Minnesota Crookston ends its season with an 11-18 record. Winona State improves to 18-11 and will take on Minnesota Duluth Saturday in the NSIC Tournament Quarterfinals.