The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Men’s Basketball team failed to build off of Friday night’s win struggling to keep pace in a 91-68 loss to Minot State in an NSIC game played at Lysaker Gymnasium.
1st Half –
Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., Detroit, MI) made a three-pointer for Minnesota Crookston’s first points giving the Golden Eagles a 3-2 lead, but Minot State responded with an 8-0 run taking a 10-3 lead. Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., Birmingham, UK) made a three-pointer with 15:32 to play in the half trimming the Golden Eagles’ deficit down to 12-11. Jassey-Demba regained the lead for UMC with his second three-pointer pushing Minnesota Crookston in front 19-18 with 13:50 to play in the half. Harrison Cleary (Sr., Oak Creek, WI) extended UMC’s lead with another three-pointer to make it 22-20 with 13:08 to play in the half. That would be the last lead Minnesota Crookston held the rest of the night. After Cleary brought the Golden Eagles within 30-29 with 10:16 to play in the half, Minot State used an 11-0 run to take a 41-29 lead. The Beavers closed the half with the final three points taking a 53-38 lead into halftime. “Our defense was not where it needed to be,” said UMC head coach Dan Weisse. “Starting the game, they just got every shot or looks they wanted. They won the energy battle and the communication battle. Toughness, they won that battle. You can look at (shooting) percentages, and they’re stark, they shot a very high percentage, but those three things are what causes that to happen.”
2nd Half –
Minnesota Crookston appeared poised for a second-half comeback opening the final 20 minute period with an 11-0 run as Cleary scored eight points, and the Golden Eagles’ defense forced six turnovers in just three minutes. Minot State answered with a 9-1 run to end UMC’s resurgence. The Beavers’ scored eleven-straight points increasing their lead to 73-52 and would cruise the rest of the game earning their 16th straight win over Minnesota Crookston dating back to 2004 by a final score of 91-68. “If you can’t get stops, it’s going to be hard to win games summarized Weisse. “We matched them early in the first-half. Once we kept making shots, (Minot State) kept scoring. The energy thing is controllable. There is no excuse for that. We didn’t match their energy. Their two guards controlled the entire game and were the two best players on the floor tonight. We allowed that to happen. Shame on us for that.”
Minnesota Crookston falls to 9-11 overall and 5-9 in conference play. The Golden Eagles return to the court Friday when UMC hosts Southwest Minnesota State at 7:30 P.M. Minot State improves to 9-11 overall and 3-11 in the NSIC.
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| Minot State | 53 | 38 | 91 |
| Minnesota Crookston | 38 | 30 | 68 |
| UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals |
| Harrison Cleary | 27 | 5 | 3 assists |
| Tyrese Shines | 14 | 3 | |
| Ibu Jassey-Demba | 7 | 2 | |
| Malcolm Cohen | 6 | 2 | |
| Chase Johnson | 6 | 3 | 4 assists |
| Reed Miller | 4 | 1 | |
| Quintin Winterfeldt | 2 | 1 | |
| Zac Olson | 2 | 1 |
