UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL BUILDS BIG LEAD AND HOLDS ON TO BEAT U OF MARY

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Men’s Basketball team built an 18 point first-half lead behind 23 Malcolm Cohen points and held off a University of Mary Marauder comeback to win 74-71 in a Northern Sun Conference game played at Lysaker Gym in Crookston.  “We needed this one,” said UMC Coach Dan Weisse. “We played a great first half and made it a little more interesting than we would have liked, but we picked up a win.”

FIRST HALF – 
Both teams struggled offensively in the first seven minutes of the game, and Mary had a 12-8 lead with 11:57 left in the half. It was this point in the game UMC’s Malcolm Cohen (Sr. Detroit, Mich) got his team going. He made a jump shot for his eighth point of the game, and it seemed to spark his teammates. “Malcolm had a great first half for us,” said Coach Weisse. “He came out and hit some shots for us and got us going.” Mary missed on the next possession, and Harrison Cleary (Sr. Oak Creek, Wis) made a long jump shot, Ibu Jassey-Demba followed with a three-pointer. The run continued with a Cohen three-pointer that was followed by a Chase Johnson free throw, and Cohen added another three-pointer to cap a 14-0 run to give the Golden Eagles a 22-12 lead with 6:53 left in the half. Mary stopped the UMC run with five straight points only to have Cohen rattle home another three-pointer, and Cleary followed with a basket in the paint. Mary’s Connor Hellebust made a jump shot before UMC’s Cohen made another three-pointer, Tyrese Shines (Fresh. La Grange, IL) added a basket, and Cohen made another three-pointer for his 23rd point of the game and more importantly giving the Golden Eagles a 35-19 lead with 2:25 left in the half. Mary finished the half on a 6-2 run, and UMC took a 37-25 lead into halftime.  “It was a very good first half for us,” said Coach Weisse. “I was happy with how we came out ready to play and we carried that throughout the entire half.  We had a lot of energy and played pretty good defense, but that seems to happen when you are making shots.” UMC made 14 of 32 shots for 44 percent and made 8 of 18 three-pointers with Malcolm Cohen making seven of his teams eight three-pointers.

SECOND HALF –
UMC started the second half on a 5-0 run with Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr. Birmingham, England) starting the scoring with a three-pointer and Cleary added a layup for a 42-25 lead two minutes into the half. Mary picked up their play on both ends of the floor and went on an 11-2 run to get within a 44-36 deficit. The teams would exchange points over the next four or five minutes and with UMC leading 48-42, Zac Olson (Soph. Waterville) made a three-pointer to give the Golden Eagle crowd and team a spark.  Mary had a basket in the paint, but Jassey-Demba answered with a three-pointer, Shines added a three-pointer and Cohen and Cleary added a bucket each to take a 61-44 lead less than seven minutes left in the game.  The teams exchanged points and with five minutes remaining UMC led 66-48.  “We were playing well on the defensive end and that was great to see,” said Coach Weisse. “We kept them in check, up to that point.”  The final five minutes of the game belonged to Mary.  The Marauders went on a 10-0 run in less than two minutes and trailed 66-58.  Mary continued to chip away at the UMC lead and trailed 71-67 with 1:11 to go.  With 34 seconds to go in the game, Mary made one of two free throws to get within one possession (71-68). UMC missed a three-pointer and Mary had the ball looking to tie the game with a three-pointer, but the missed the shot hard off the backboard and UMC held on to win 71-68.  “We found a way to win missing two starters (Javier Nicolau and Brian Sitzman because of the flu) and other players stepped up to make plays,” said Coach Weisse. “Ibu had a big night with a double-double and Malcolm really got us going in the first half.  It was a solid all-around team effort with all nine guys making some big plays tonight.”

UMC improves to 5-8 in the NSIC and 9-10 overall and will host Minot State at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.  You can hear the game on KROX Radio.  Mary drops to 4-9 in the NSIC and 9-10 overall and will travel to Bemidji State on Saturday.