It was a game of body blows for both sides, but the Minnesota-Crookston Golden Eagles were unable to stay out of foul trouble as the Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth squeaked out a 76-66 win at the Lisaker Gymnasium in Crookston Friday evening. There were a combined 54 fouls and 66 free throws in the game.
FIRST HALF –
UMC opened the scoring with a Micah Garrett jumper, which was answered by a quick three by Duluth’s Nick Katona, who would score the first 5 for the Bulldogs. Andrew Stokes hit a layup to bring it back to a one point game just over 2 minutes into the contest. The defenses started coming to life, as each team struggled with turnovers and missed shots over the next two minutes. UMD’s Austin Andrews ended the scoring drought with a layup to put the Bulldogs up 7-4, which would remain the score until a Stokes layup for UMC with 15:14 left in the half. The teams exchanged buckets over the next few minutes, with UMD leadig 9-8 at the 13:55 mark. That led to a run of 6 in a row for UMD. UMC answered with big shots from Landon Dimler, Aguek Deng, and Caiden Swenby, who took UMC on a 7-0 run and knotted the game at 15 with 11 minutes left in the first. UMC kept it within a possession until the Bulldogs went on another run, outscoring the Golden Eagles 12-5 over the next three minutes. The Bulldogs held a 27-20 lead until the 5:53 mark, when UMC’s Micah Garrett hit a jumper to cut the lead to two possessions. Both offenses got rolling in the final five minutes of the half, which pushed the Bulldog lead to 44-33 in the final 90 seconds. Reid Grant made a three with 16 seconds left in the half, which cut Duluth’s lead to 44-36 to end the first.
SECOND HALF –
The offensive tone to end the first half continued to start the second, but so did the fouls. Both teams lived at the line and made timely buckets to make it 47-40 at the 17:47 mark. Micah Garrett cut the lead to 6 after both teams made a few free throws. With Duluth up 50-44 at the 16:00 mark, the teams continued to make shots. Reid Grant added two more at the line for UMC, and Austin Andrews made a layup to answer for the Bulldogs. Jordan Mitchell came alive in the paint to help UMC keep pace with the Bulldogs, and his four points cut UMD’s lead to 58-50 at the 12:15 mark. At the 10 minute mark, the Golden Eagles trailed 60-53, and the teams had combined for 18 fouls and each team in the bonus. Mitchell made a layup and converted at the line to make it 60-56 at the 8:34 mark. Duluth scored the next four to take an eight point lead with 7:36 to go. Katona fouled out for UMD moments later, who would finish with 16 points. UMC’s Xzavier Jones made both free throws to cut the lead back to 6. UMC missed a couple of layups moments later, and the Bulldogs called timeout with 5 minutes left in the game. Each team went to the line out of the timeout, with UMD making one shot and Grant hitting both for UMC to put the score at a 65-60 lead for the Bulldogs. Grant then hit a jumper to cut the lead to 3 in on the next possession. Grant missed what would have been the tying three moments later, and the Bulldogs made it a 4 point game at the line moments later. Grant answered with a layup through contact to make it 66-64. The Bulldogs struck back with another three and called timeout up 69-64 with 1:53 to go. Grant drew a foul and hit a free throw to cut the lead back to 4 at 1:39 left, followed by a UMC timeout. In the final minute and a half, the Bulldogs were able to force Golden Eagle misses and draw fouls, as they would pull away at the line. UMD escaped with a 76-66 win.
UMD falls to 5-22 on the season, and UMD is now 19-8. UMC will host Concorida-St. Paul tomorrow afternoon in the regular season finale.
To hear postgame comments from head coach Bryan Beamish, click below.
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Minnesota-Crookston | 36 | 30 | 66 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 44 | 32 | 76 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals/Blocks |
| Reid Grant | 20 | 3 | 2/0/2 |
| Micah Garrett | 15 | 5 | – |
| Jordan Mitchell | 9 | 10 | 1/0/1 |
| Andrew Stokes | 6 | 4 | – |
| Caiden Swenby | 6 | – | – |
| Xzavier Jones | 4 | 1 | 0/1/0 |
| Aguek Deng | 2 | 15 | 2/1/2 |
| Landon Dimler | 2 | – | 0/1/0 |
| Hunter Lorenson | 2 | 2 | 2/1/0 |
