JAVIER NICOLAU’S CAREER DAY LEADS UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL OVER WALDORF

Javier Nicolau (Sr., Castellon, Spain) scored a career-high 18 points as the University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Men’s Basketball team cruised to a 92-63 win over Waldorf University (NAIA) in a non-conference game at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.

Brian Sitzmann (R-Soph., Savage) opened the scoring with a lay-up on Minnesota Crookston’s opening possession giving the Golden Eagles a 2-0 lead. Harrison Cleary (Sr., Oak Creek, WI) scored at the rim on UMC’s next possession before Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., Birmingham, England) slammed a put-back dunk off a missed Sitzmann three-pointer extending Minnesota Crookston’s lead to 6-0. After Waldorf scored a pair of free-throws, Javier Nicolau scored on two straight possessions before a Jassey-Demba three-pointer extended UMC’s advantage to 13-2 with 15:41 to play in the first half. Brian Sitzmann capped off the 10-0 run with a three-pointer as the Golden Eagles lead grew to 16-2 just 4:58 into the game. “The pregame talk was about how we had not started games well,” noted UMC head coach Dan Weisse. “I thought we jumped on the early which was great.” Minnesota Crookston dominated the rest of the first half with Harrison Cleary scoring UMC’s final five points of the first half as the Golden Eagles took a 54-24 lead into halftime. “Overall, I was very pleased,” said Weisse. “Our guys, for the most part, played like the team we want to be.”

Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., Detroit, MI) opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers extending the Golden Eagles lead to 60-24. Waldorf pulled within 19 points with 6:47 to play, but UMC responded with a 6-0 run by Harrison Cleary as Minnesota Crookston closed out the 92-63 win. “We wanted to win the rebounding battle, which I think we did,” added Weisse. “We shot the ball pretty well. When the ball was moving, we made shots. When the ball wasn’t moving, shots didn’t go in. I liked the start to the game here, and hopefully moving forward, that is something that will continue to be in our favor.”

Javier Nicolau finished the game with a new career-high 18 points, which was notable for his head coach Dan Weisse, “we have kids that can make jump shots. If we can add an inside presence that will help our jumpshooters. I thought the last two games he did somethings that could be huge for us down the stretch.”

Minnesota Crookston improves to 4-2 overall and will conclude non-conference play on Tuesday when the Golden Eagles travel to the University of Sioux Falls for a 7 P.M. tip-off. The game was an exhibition game for Waldorf and does not count towards their 1-7 record entering Saturday’s game.