The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team fought with everything they had but fell apart in overtime as the St. Cloud State Huskies defeated the Golden Eagles by a score of 91-86 in overtime at Lysaker Gymnasium on the UMC Campus.
FIRST HALF –
The game initially started slow with only 1 bucket in the first 3 minutes, but the Huskies picked up the pace as 2 Kynan Philippe 3-pointers helped give St. Cloud State a 10-6 lead. However, UMC was quick to respond as a Ben Hoverson 3-pointer gave the Golden Eagles their first lead at 16-15. This game stayed close the entire time, with 19 combined lead changes, and no team holding a larger lead than 8. The two squads continued to fight back and forth throughout the entire half, but the difference became foul trouble, with 4 different UMC players recording two fouls in the first half. St. Cloud State would rely on the free throw throughout the game, as well as the 3-point shot, making 5 of each shot in the first half. A Nate Dahl and-1 ended the first half with the Huskies having their largest lead of the game to that point, at 42-37.
SECOND HALF –
After Dahl hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, which gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game at 8, at 45-37, UMC began to turn the tides in their favor. Andrew Stokes played a massive role in this change. After recording 2 quick fouls in the first half, Stokes began to take over, driving every chance he could, drawing fouls and making tough shots to bring UMC back into the game. Stokes went 7-7 from the free throw line and 4-5 from the field in the half, ending his night with 17 points. Another massive change was the switch in fouls, as the Huskies began to commit fouls in spades, committing 6 in just under 4 minutes and getting up to 9 in just over 7 minutes. This allowed UMC to take a 53-30 lead with 13:11 remaining. The Huskies responded, and the game became tied at 53, 55, 57, 59, and 61, before a Luke Winkel jumper from the high post gave St. Cloud State a 4-point lead at 67-63. A Jordan Morgan 3-pointer then made it 72-67 with under 5 minutes to go. UMC then got a big shot from Reid Grant to tie the game at 74 with 3 minutes to go, and then with 26 seconds left, Grant hit another massive 3-pointer to tie the game at 79. A Winkel shot at the buzzer was short, forcing overtime.
OVERTIME –
An Andrew Stokes layup a minute into overtime gave UMC an 82-79 lead, but then on the next possession, Stokes fouled out. This became the turning point for St. Cloud State. Winkel hit a 3-pointer to go up 83-82, and Grant followed with a layup to go up 84-83 with 2:33 to go. St. Cloud State then turned up the intensity on the defensive side, and prevented UMC from scoring for over 2 minutes. The Huskies continued to draw fouls and make free throws, going 22-32 from the line, while UMC went 14-19. 7 of the Huskies’ 12 points in OT came from the free throw line, and that was enough for the Huskies to win by a final score of 91-86.
During the postgame, UMC Head Coach Bryan Beamish took full responsibility for the team’s lack of performance during the end of the second half and overtime. “I need to do a better job, because we are in these games and are going to be in more of these games, of practicing those scenarios and getting our guys comfortable…I need to do a way better job of allowing our guys to execute our plan with confidence.”
UMC falls to 2-7 on the season, and now 1-2 in conference play. St. Cloud State goes to 5-5 on the season, and gets their first conference win of the season, improving to 1-1 in that category.
| 1st | 2nd | OT | Final | |
| Minnesota Crookston | 37 | 42 | 7 | 91 |
| St. Cloud State | 42 | 37 | 12 | 86 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals/Blocks |
| Reid Grant | 23 | 5 | 6 assists |
| Andrew Stokes | 17 | 2 | 1 assist |
| Micah Garrett | 16 | 3 | 1 steal |
| Jordan Mitchell | 12 | 5 | 2 steals |
| Christian Bowen-Webb | 9 | – | – |
| Chandler Meeks | 6 | – | 1 assist/1 steal |
| Ben Hoverson | 3 | 3 | 1 block |
