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UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL OVERCOMES SLOW START IN WIN OVER CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles Men’s Basketball team overcame a slow offensive start and made big defensive stops in a 78-76 win over Concordia-St. Paul as part of the Parkside Invitational in DeSimone Gymnasium in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Concordia-St. Paul’s roster featured eleven new players and was playing their first game of the season, giving UMC little to evaluate in preparation for the game. Concordia St. Paul got off to a quick start as Jordan Coblin (Jr., Boca Raton, FL) scored the games first 9 points with three three-pointers giving the Golden Bears and early lead. Harrison Cleary (Sr., Oak Creek, WI) connected on a mid-range jump shot along the baseline to open Minnesota Crookston’s scoring 4:34 into the game, but Concordia-St. Paul remained red hot from beyond the arc, extending its lead to 15-2. Brian Sitzmann (R-Soph., Savage) made UMC’s first three-pointer as part of a personal 6-0 run brining the Golden Eagles within 15-8. After Concordia-St. Trailing 24-16, Minnesota Crookston closed the first half with an extended scoring run, including Tyrese Shines’ (Fr., La Grange, IL) first basket of his career tying the game at 30-30. Noah Kannergiesser (Soph., Hancock) beat the buzzer for the final basket of the first half giving Concordia-St. Paul a 32-30 halftime lead. “We didn’t have energy (to start the game),” said UMC head coach Dan Weisse. “That was certainly a message at halftime. I don’t want to be that team that when you make a shot, that’s when you have energy. We couldn’t make a shot and missed a couple of really good looks, but you’ve still got to have energy. I think that had a lot to do with it.”

In the second half, Concordia-St. Paul opened the half with a 5-0 run taking a 37-30 lead. Minnesota Crookston responded with several key stops before Javier Nicolau (Sr., Castellon, Spain) took a pass from Harrison Cleary in the lane and dunked the ball with two hands giving UMC their first lead of the night. Minnesota Crookston took its largest lead of the night at 57-50, but the Golden Bears scored eight straight points gaining a 58-57 lead. Nicolau split a pair of free-throws giving Minnesota Crookston a 74-73 lead before Brian Sitzmann buried a three-pointer, putting UMC ahead 77-73 with 1:07 to play. Jordan Coblin cut the UMC lead down to 2 but missed a free-throw failing to complete the three-point play. Javier Nicolau rebounded the missed free-throw and was fouled, but missed both free-throws giving Concordia-St. Paul a shot to tie or win the game with 0:06 remaining. Javier Nicolau was switched on to Jordan Coblin, who fired a fadeaway three-pointer for the win, but the shot missed off the heel of the rim as Minnesota Crookston hung on for a 78-76 win. “This was a tricky one for sure,” summarized Weisse. “I give Concordia a ton of credit. They’re an improved team from last year. I also think we’re an improved team from last year. We made enough plays. It wasn’t always pretty, but that was a Northern Sun basketball game in a lot of ways. Javy (Nicolau) did a perfect job guarding that last possession there. It’s always better to not be satisfied after a win rather than a loss.”

Minnesota Crookston improves to 2-1 and will take on the winner of Hillsdale and UW-Parkside in the Championship game at 3:00 P.M. Saturday on KROX. Concordia-St. Paul falls to 0-1.

Box Score 1 2 Final
Minnesota-Crookston 30 48 78
Concordia-St. Paul 32 44 76

 

UMC Points Rebounds Assists/Steals
Harrison Cleary 36 1 5 assists/2 steals
Brian Sitzmann 20 2 2 assists
Ben Juhl 13 2
Javier Nicolau 5 7
Chase Johnson 2 2 2 assists
Tyrese Shines 2 1

 

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