The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team couldn’t handle the two stars for Bemidji State as the Beavers won 80-62 in a Northern Sun Conference game played at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.
FIRST HALF-
UMC got off to a good start as Jordan Mitchell (R-Jr. Columbus, OH) had the opening bucket for the game, and Aguek Deng (R-Jr. Des Moines, IA) threw down a breakaway dunk for an early 4-3 Golden Eagle lead. The Beavers battled back with a 9-0 run to go up 12-4. Mario Adams (Fresh Rosemount, MN) and Deng had back-to-back baskets to bring the Golden Eagles within four. Later in the half, Blaize Sagna (Jr. London, England) would get two jumpers to go, and Ben Hoverson (Jr. Grand Forks, ND) hit a three to make it 21-18 with Bemidji State still in command. UMC got the lead down to one as Sagna hit a jump shot, but the Beavers fought back to extend their lead. Reid Grant (Jr. Johnston, IA) and Sagna helped drop the lead back down to one, as the two sides would trade baskets after that. UMC tied the game at 30 after Sagna hit two free throws. Mitchell tied the game again at 32, but the Beavers would add three baskets as UMC could only counter with one to take a halftime lead of 38-34.
SECOND HALF-
To open the second half, UMC got a quick basket from Mitchell and a three from Sagna to make it a 40-39 lead with Bemidji State on top. The Beavers would rally with a 20-2 run to give them a 60-41 advantage. UMC put together an 8-0 run to go trim the Beavers lead down to 11. The two sides would each trade baskets as Bemidji State had a 69-58 lead. Bemidji State used a timely 11-1 run to pull ahead 80-59 with only a minute and a half left to give them a comfortable lead with the help of Dalton Albrecht, who had a career-high 31 points to lead the Beavers to an 80-62 win.
UMC drops to 6-17 on the year and 3-14 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles will travel to Northern State on Saturday. Bemidji State improves to 12-12 on the year and 8-10 in NSIC play. The Beavers will face Sioux Falls next Friday.
Click here for Coach Beamish’s post-game interview.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Bemidji State | 38 | 42 | 80 |
| UM-Crookston | 34 | 28 | 62 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Blaize Sagna | 20 | 4 | 2/1 |
| Ben Hoverson | 13 | 2 | 0/1 |
| Reid Grant | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| Jordan Mitchell | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Aguek Deng | 6 | 9 | 0/4 |
| De’Antray Hughes | 3 | 1 | 1/1 |
| Isaiah Bundy-Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Mario Adams | 2 | 2 | 0 |
