UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL SNAPS SKID WITH WIN OVER JAMESTOWN

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Men’s Basketball team picked up a much-needed bounce-back win 79-63 over Jamestown in a non-conference game played at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.

Jamestown jumped out to a 6-0 start before Gable Smith (R-Sr., Lodi, WI) scored a tip in bringing Minnesota Crookston within 6-2. Josh Collins (Sr., Minneapolis) followed with a finish at the rim before Harrison Cleary (Jr., Oak Creek, WI) knocked down a three-pointer giving UMC a 7-6 lead. Malcolm Cohen (R-Jr., Detroit, MI) scored five straight points pushing the Golden Eagles lead to 13-8 with 14:43 to play in the first half. After the Jimmies took a 26-22 lead, Gable Smith finished a dunk before a Josh Collins lay-up tied the game at 26-26. Trailing 30-28, Minnesota Crookston used a 6-0 run to take a 34-30 lead with a Ben Juhl (Soph., Clive, IA) lay-up at the buzzer giving the Golden Eagles a 36-32 halftime lead.

Jamestown tied the game at 44-44 with 13:06 remaining, but Minnesota Crookston responded to put the game away. Ben Juhl made a lay-up before a Harrison Cleary three-pointer pushed the Golden Eagles in front 49-44. Harrison Cleary added two more free throws to cap the 7-0 run with UMC ahead 51-44. A quick 4-0 run made it 57-49 before a 10-0 run including six free throws between Cleary and Collins advanced Minnesota Crookston’s lead to 69-55. UMC closed the game in style with three-pointers from Chase Knickerbocker (Sr., Annandale) and Cleary providing the exclamation points for the 79-63 win.

Minnesota Crookston improves to 11-8 overall and returns to action Friday night when the Golden Eagles host Winona State at 7:30 p.m. Jamestown falls to 18-5 this season.