The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Men’s Basketball team picked up their third win in a row in convincing fashion 100-69 over Upper Iowa in an NSIC game played at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.
UMC early in the first half with Brian Sitzmann (R-Fr., Savage) scoring from the paint before Harrison Cleary (Jr., Oak Creek, WI) buried a three-pointer pushing the Golden Eagles lead to 5-0. Cleary added a second three-pointer to make it 8-0 before draining another triple pushing UMC’s lead to 11-0. Upper Iowa battled back pulling within 18-13 with 14:45 left in the first half before Brian Sitzmann made a three-pointer giving the Golden Eagles a 21-13 lead. Darin Viken (Sr., Fosston) followed with another three-pointer for Minnesota Crookston pushing the lead to 24-13. Leading 29-22 with 8:39 left in the first half, Chase Johnson (R-Soph., La Crosse, WI) slammed a dunk in the lane pushing UMC’s lead to 31-22. Brian Sitzmann followed with a lay-up making it 33-22 leading towards an 11-0 run giving the Golden Eagles a 40-22 lead. After Upper Iowa took a 46-36 lead with 1:18 left in the first half, Harrison Cleary finished a lay-up through contact to close the first half with a free-throw giving Minnesota Crookston a 49-36 halftime lead. “We were really locked in,” said UMC head coach Dan Weisse. “We were up 13 at halftime, but they can score so quickly and had a couple 6-0 runs in the first half where we could’ve pulled away a little more. When sprinted back and got back in transition on defense, we got separation on the scoreboard. When we make shots I look like a better coach, but it also does help on the defensive end. It gives us some confidence, gets guys talking, we don’t need to shoot well to play good defense, but it doesn’t hurt.”
The Golden Eagles continued to pour it on in the second half at the offensive end. Leading 53-38 with 18:57 to play, Minnesota Crookston used an 8-0 run capped off by a Josh Collins lay-up giving UMC a 61-38 lead with 14:28 to play. Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., Annandale) connected on a triple to spark a 14-0 run concluding with a Malcolm Cohen (R-Jr., Detroit, MI) three-pointer giving the Golden Eagles a 75-41 lead. Minnesota Crookston continued to flourish offensively the rest of the game finishing the night shooting 54% from the field and 13-25 from beyond the three-point line to close out their third straight win 100-69. “This was the goal to win three-in-a-row,” said Weisse. “We played fantastic all three nights and the next is winning on the road. We haven’t been able to do it, but we have an opportunity this weekend. Every team you play in the Northern Sun is a little bit different. This coming weekend will be a great test for us and I suspect our guys will be ready to go.”
Minnesota Crookston improves to 13-8 overall and 6-6 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday night when UMC takes on the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND at 7:30 p.m. Upper Iowa falls to 6-12 overall and 3-9 in the NSIC.
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| Upper Iowa | 36 | 33 | 69 |
| UMC | 49 | 51 | 100 |
| For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Harrison Cleary | 25 | 5 | 6 assists |
| Chase Knickerbocker | 21 | 9 | 3 steals |
| Brian Sitzmann | 18 | ||
| Malcolm Cohen | 12 | 3 | |
| Josh Collins | 8 | 4 | |
| Gable Smith | 4 | 5 | 3 blocks |
| Darin Viken | 4 | 3 | |
| Chase Johnson | 4 | 6 | 3 steals |
| Damarion Barriffe-Smith | 2 | ||
| Javier Nicolau | 2 |
