UMC Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short vs Arkansas Tech

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team had a slow start and even with a strong second half, they couldn’t recover in a 74-71 loss to Arkansas Tech in the season opener for both teams in a game played at Concordia-St. Paul’s Gangelhof Center in St. Paul.

UMC took a 5-2 lead with a Josh Collins (Sr. Minneapolis) basket and Chase Knickerbocker (Sr. Annandale) three-pointer. Arkansas Tech answered with a 40-17 run to take a 42-22 lead into halftime. UMC struggled on the offensive end in the first half only shooting 33 percent (9-27) from the field and 11 percent (1-9) on three-point attempts. Arkansas Tech shot significantly better going 14-30 from the field and they made 7 of 15 three-pointers.
The teams exchanged baskets to start the second half and Arkansas Tech led 28-25 before UMC started to heat up offensively. Harrison Cleary (Jr. Oak Creek, Wis) got things going with a three-point play and Chase Knickerbocker added a couple three-pointers and that seemed to be what the Golden Eagles needed. Arkansas Tech made a couple of shots and led 55-34 lead six minutes into the half. UMC’s Malcolm Cohen got a big run started with a three-pointer and after an Arkansas Tech basket, Cleary scored nine points, and Ben Juhl added a basket to cap a 14-2 run and the Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 11 points (59-48). UMC continued to chip away at the deficit and got within four points (71-67) with a Juhl basket with 29 seconds left in the game, but Arkansas tech made three of four free throws down the stretch to hold on to a 74-71 victory.
UMC drops to 0-1 on the year and will take on Arkansas-Monticello at Noon on Sunday. Arkansas Tech improves to 1-0 on the year and will play Concordia-St. Paul on Sunday.