The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Men’s Basketball team lacked energy early in a 101-58 loss against Northern State in an NSIC game played at Wachs Arena.
FIRST HALF –
Northern State jumped out to an early lead and all but put the game out of reach less than twelve minutes into the game. Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., Birmingham, UK) made a three-pointer tying the game at 4-4 with 17:36 to play in the first half. A Javier Nicolau (Sr., Castellon, Spain) dunk trimmed the Golden Eagles deficit down to 11-8, but Northern State countered with an 11-2 run taking a 22-10 lead with 13:39 to play in the half. Another 9-0 run extended the lead to 31-13. Javier Nicolau’s second dunk of the half cut UMC’s deficit down to 33-17, but the Wolves countered with a 21-0 run commanding a 54-17 lead over a four-minute stretch that all but ended Minnesota Crookston’s hope of a weekend sweep. Northern State went to the locker room leading 61-27 at halftime. “We came out flat and they didn’t miss a shot,” said Minnesota Crookston head coach Dan Weisse. “They played a heck of a game and we didn’t show up tonight like we did last night, that’s for sure. We weren’t moving. Our feet weren’t moving. We couldn’t guard the ball off their ball screens.”
SECOND HALF –
The second half was all but a formality for both teams. Northern State continued to excel on both ends of the floor with the biggest highlight coming with 44-seconds to play as a three-pointer pushed the Wolves past the century mark to the delight of the crowd as they celebrated a 101-58 win. “We’ve got to move passed this,” explained Weisse. “We still have to learn from it. We got a split on the road, but this is unacceptable with how we played today. Especially after last night. We wanted to get a sweep, but with our energy tonight we had no chance to get that done.”
Minnesota Crookston falls to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday when UMC hosts Augustana at 7:30 P.M. on KROX. Northern State improves to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| Minnesota Crookston | 27 | 31 | 58 |
| Northern State | 61 | 40 | 101 |
| UMC | Points | Reb | Assists/Steals |
| Harrison Cleary | 17 | 3 | 2 assists |
| Javier Nicolau | 9 | 5 | 2 assists |
| Zach Westphal | 7 | ||
| Ibu Jassey-Demba | 6 | 2 | |
| Malcolm Cohen | 5 | ||
| Quintin Winterfeldt | 5 | 1 | |
| Destiny Chikwem-Stanley | 4 | 2 | |
| Zac Olson | 3 | 2 | |
| Tyrese Shines | 2 | 1 |
