UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL OPENS UP SEASON WITH A BRIAN SITZMANN BUZZER-BEATER VICTORY

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team opened up the 2021-22 season in exciting fashion as a Brian Sitzmann basket as time expired gave them a 72-70 victory over East Central University in the first game of the Minnesota Duluth American Family Insurance Classic in Duluth.

FIRST HALF-
UMC had a great start to the season, especially on the defensive end and jumped out to a 7-2 lead.  East Central answered to tie the game at 7 and 9, before the Golden Eagles responded with a 5-0 run with a basket in the paint from Naz Powell (Soph. Nottingham, England) and a three-pointer from Uzo Dibiamaka (Soph. Adelaide, Australia) for a 14-9 lead.  East Central made a free throw with 10:32 remaining before UMC responded with another 5-0 run with a Channel free throw followed by baskets from Powell and Zach Westphal (Soph. West Fargo, ND) for a 19-10 lead with 8:23 left in the half. UMC led 22-14 when they went on a 7-0 run with an offensive rebound and putback for Westphal, and a basket followed by a three-point play from Powell for a 29-14 lead with 2:54 to go.  East Central started to heat up in the final minutes of the half and went on a 9-2 run to get within an eight-point deficit (31-23).  The Golden Eagles got a big spark going into halftime when Ethan Channel (Jr. Beaverton, Oregon) made a three-pointer with two seconds left and UMC took a 34-23 lead into halftime.  “That was a big shot because we turned the ball over on four of the last five possessions and they took advantage of it to get it down to single-digits,” said UMC Coach Dan Weisse. “Ethan hitting that shot gave us some momentum back and we definitely needed that shot and it showed later in the game.”

SECOND HALF-
Four minutes into the second half, UMC had a 44-34 lead after a basket from Zen Goodridge (Jr. Orlando, FL).  It was at this point in the game when East Central made a big run and outscored UMC 14-4 over the next six minutes to tie the game at 48-48 with 10:11 left in the game.  UMC regained the lead when ibiamaka made a three-pointer for a 51-48 lead with 8:25 left in the game.  East Central responded with a three-point play and three-pointer from Jalen Crutchfield for a 54-51 lead.  UMC trailed 61-56 when Dibiamaka scored two and followed with a step-back three-pointer to tie the game at 61-61 with 2:56 remaining.  East Central answered with a basket before Westphal converted a three-point play to give UMC a 64-63 lead with less than two minutes left.  East Central’s Crutchfield answered with a basket only to have Westphal buried a three-pointer for a 67-65 lead.  East Central tied the game at 67-67 with 68 seconds in regulation.  With 34.6 seconds left, UMC took the lead back with a Dibiamaka three-point play.   Dibiamaka was called for a charge, but the officials looked at the instant replay and the East Central player was in the protected half-circle under the basket and a blocking foul was called.  “That was a big call and they got it right,” said Coach Weisse.  “We aren’t used to getting calls like that here and that was nice they looked at it and got it right.”  East Central’s Crutchfield answered with a three with 9.3 seconds left to tie the game at 70-70.  UMC brought the ball up the court and Brian Sitzmann (Sr. Savage) got trapped on the baseline with two seconds left, spun, and shot a step-back jumper and the buzzer sounded as the ball went through the net and UMC won the game 72-70. “That is a senior making a big play.  That was great because Brian has worked hard and been in the program all these years and got us the win,” said Coach Weisse. “It was a pretty good all-around team effort tonight and we showed we will be deeper and I like what I saw defensively and we shot the ball pretty well too.  We have to take better care of the ball because having 20 turnovers isn’t going to win you many games.  But, I am proud of the guys as they battled all 40 minutes.”

UMC improves to 1-0 on the year and will play the University of Nebraska-Kearney at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.  East Central drops to 0-1 on the year.