UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL’S 2ND HALF COMEBACK FALLS SHORT AGAINST WINONA STATE

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagles Men’s basketball team hosted the Winona State Warriors on Saturday afternoon inside of Lysaker gymnasium on Gary Senske Court. Winona State hit 10 first-half threes to build an early lead and made six straight free throws in the final minute of the game to fend off a UMC come back and grab a 70-65 NSIC win. “We did a great job in the second half of limiting their chances,” said UMC Head Coach Dan Weisse. “We still really haven’t put together two halves in a single game this year, and that’s something we have to find a way to do.”

FIRST HALF –

Nathaniel Powell (So. Nottingham, England) got the scoring started for UMC with a layup on the first possession of the game. After a Winona State three, Brian Sitzmann (Sr. Savage, Minn.) would convert on a layup giving the Golden Eagles an early 4-3 lead. After another Warriors three, UMC would go on a 7-0 run to take an 11-6 lead with 14:56 left in the first half. The run was highlighted by a three from Leonard Dixon (Jr. Damascus, OR.) a score from Powell, and a layup from Uzo Dibiamaka (So. Adelaide, Australia). Winona State would then go on a 12-2 run over the next 2:30 of game time to claim an 18-13 lead. Dixon put an end to the run with another three-pointer, and after a Winona State score, it was 20-16 Warriors with 9:25 to play until halftime. Winona State continued to knock down triples and scored 11 of the next 13 points to take a 31-18 lead that would force a UMC timeout. “We made some adjustments in the second half but I wish we would’ve made those sooner,” said UMC Head Coach Dan Weisse. “That’s on me as a coach for not putting our guys in the best spot to win a game.” Off the timeout, UMC would score the next five points on a Jerome Mabry (So. Milwaukee, Wis.) three, and two free throws from Zach Westphal (Sr. West Fargo, N.D.). That would cut the deficit to 31-23, but that would be as close as UMC would get the rest of the first half, as Winona State would go on an 11-2 scoring run building their lead to 42-25. UMC would get a three from Dylan Hushaw (So. Las Vegas, NV.) and after one more score from Dixon, would head into the locker room trailing 44-30. Winona State hit 10 threes in the first half and shot 50% from the field. UMC shot 52% from the field but had 10n costly turnovers allowing Winona State to build their lead. The Golden Eagles were led by Dixon and Powell with 8 points each.

SECOND HALF –

UMC wouldn’t go down without a fight, as they fought the entire second half and slowly trimmed the Warriors lead. Both teams struggled to score early in the second half, and UMC was able to cut the lead to single digits at 49-41 after a Powell layup with 15:24 remaining in the game. Both teams would make one-shot the next four minutes, and after a Dibiamaka layup, Winona State held onto a slim lead at 51-45 with 10:42 left to play. Winona State would score the next six points to take a 57-45 lead with 8:03 left in the game, but UMC still refused to go away. The Golden Eagles continued to chip away, and after two free throws from Sitzmann, the score was 62-57 UMC with 2:24 remaining. After a stop from UMC and two more free throws from Mabry, it was a one-possession game at 62-59. Winona State however would seal the game down the stretch, knocking down a jumper and hitting all six free-throw attempts in the final minute for a 70-65 win. The UMC defense improved in the second half, holding Winona State to just 26 points and 0-8 from three-point range. The Golden Eagles also outrebounded Winona State 38-24 in the contest. “That was something as a coach I was really proud of,” said UMC Head Coach Dan Weisse. “We did a poor job of rebounding last night against Upper Iowa, and tonight it was a complete turnaround. So I am proud of the boys for working hard on that.”

UMC Falls to 4-12 on the season and 1-9 in NSIC play and will hit the road next weekend for conference games against Concordia University St. Paul, and Minnesota State Mankato. Winona State improves to 9-4 on the season and 5-3 in NSIC play.