The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team continued its outstanding play as they knocked off the #17 ranked Minot State Beavers in a Northern Sun Conference (NSIC) game on Gary Senske Court in Lysaker Gymnasium on the University of Minnesota Crookston campus. UMC avenged an 83-52 loss to Minot State on November 26, earlier this season.
FIRST HALF –
The first half started with both teams scoring at a quick rate. UMC scored the first four points of the game on two backdoor layups by Reid Grant (Sr. Johnston, IA) and Andrew Stokes (Jr. Westchester, IL), but the Beavers answered with a 10-2 run to take a 10-6 lead. UMC battled back with a Jordan Mitchell (Sr. Columbus, OH) layup and a Micah Garrett (Jr. Portland, OR) three-pointer for an 11-10 lead. The teams exchanged baskets and there were five lead-changes before Minot State made back-to-back baskets for an 18-15 lead with 8:01 remaining in the half. UMC trailed 22-20 when Grant made a layup and Stokes made two free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 23-22 lead. UMC had a 26-25 lead with 90 seconds to go in the half, but Minot State ended the half on a 4-0 run by making four free throws to take a 29-26 lead into the half.
SECOND HALF –
The teams exchanged baskets in the first two minutes of the half and Minot State led 34-31 when UMC’s Grant hit a three-pointer and Stokes had a strong take to the basket for a layup to give the Golden Eagles a 36-34 lead. Minot State made a basket before UMC’s Stokes made four straight points for a 40-36 lead five minutes into the half. The teams continued to battle back and forth as the game was tied at 48, 50, 52, 54, and 58. Minot State had a 61-60 lead when UMC’s Mitchell made a layup and Aguek Deng (Sr. Des Moines, IA) added two free throws for a 64-61 lead with 1:42 remaining. Minot State scored four straight points to take a 65-64 lead with 42 seconds to go in the game. UMC missed a shot but got the offensive rebound, and Grant made a jump shot for a 66-65 lead. UMC’s defense came up with a huge defensive stop as the Beavers missed a shot, and Aguek Deng grabbed the rebound and got the ball to GD Deng, who made two free throws to give the Golden Eagles a 68-65 lead with five seconds left in the game. Minot State called a timeout and was able to get a three-pointer off, but missed the shot and Grant grabbed the rebound and UMC held on for a big 68-65 victory.
UMC improves to 5-16 overall and 4-11 in the NSIC and will travel to Bismarck, North Dakota on Saturday to take on the University of Mary Marauders. Minot State falls to 20-4, dropping to 11-4 in the conference.
1st | 2nd | Final | |
Minot State | 29 | 26 | 65 |
UMC | 26 | 32 | 68 |
For UMC | Points | Rebounds | Assists/Steals/Blocks |
Reid Grant | 21 | 4 | 4 assists |
Andrew Stokes | 19 | 3 | 2 steals |
Jordan Mitchell | 9 | 6 | 4 assists/1 steal/1 block |
Micah Garrett | 9 | 2 | |
Braydon Carlson | 4 | 1 steal | |
GD Deng | 4 | 2 | |
Aguek Deng | 2 | 4 | 1 assist |







