UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL COMPLETES ROAD SWEEP WITH WIN OVER UMARY

The University of Minnesota Crookston Men’s basketball team completed its first road weekend sweep as a Division II program in a 68-62 win over the University of Mary in an NSIC game played at the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck, North Dakota.

1st Half –
The University of Mary scored the opening five points of the game before Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., Birmingham, United Kingdom) buried a three-pointer trimmed the Golden Eagles deficit down to 5-3. Over four minutes, the Marauders went on a 5-0 run, taking a 10-4 lead with 13:16 to play in the first half. Quintin Winterfeldt (Fr., Waupun, WI) halted the run with a lay-up before Harrison Cleary (Sr., Oak Creek, WI) scored five straight points giving the Golden Eagles an 11-10 lead with 12:05 to play. The two sides continued trading basket before Malcolm Cohen (R-Sr., Detroit, MI) buried his second three-pointer of the half putting Minnesota Crookston in front 22-20. Zach Westphal (R-Fr., West Fargo, ND) connected on a baseline jumper giving the Golden Eagles a 24-22 lead. The Marauders countered with a 6-0 run taking a 28-24 lead with 4:19 to play. Minnesota Crookston closed the half on a 7-2 run tying the game at 33-33 going into halftime. “We were talking and getting to loose balls,” noted Minnesota Crookston head coach Dan Weisse. “It wasn’t a perfect half by any means, but that’s life on the road in the Northern Sun (Conference). We didn’t get down on ourselves. We just moved on to the next play. We made their shots tough enough to hang in there, and we played with the urgency we’ve talked about.”

2nd Half –
The University of Mary opened the second half with a 6-2 run taking a 39-35 lead with 16:48 to play. Minnesota Crookston countered with lay-ups by Javier Nicolau (Sr., Castellon, Spain) and Harrison Cleary leveling the score 39-39. Harrison Cleary scored five-straight points before setting up a Javier Nicolau dunk giving the Golden Eagles a 46-41 lead. UMary responded with an 11-2 run taking a 52-48 lead with 8:44 remaining. Minnesota Crookston countered with a 6-2 run evening the score 54-54. With 5:30 to play, Harrison Cleary made a three-pointer giving Minnesota Crookston a 61-57 lead. UMary countered with a lay-up pulling within two. Brian Sitzmann (R-Soph., Savage) made a jump shot with 2:56 to play reestablishing a four-point lead. The Marauders made a free-throw with 2:34 to play to pull within 65-62. It would be the final points scored by the hosts all night. Harrison Cleary buried the dagger three-pointer with 0:13 to play securing the 68-62 win. “This was the team that beat Moorhead on the road earlier this year,” explained Weisse. “As we talked about last night, this was the team no one wants to play against. This was a tough environment on senior night. I’m going to guess it’s probably the first time in school history we’ve done this and for us to do this against (UMary and Minot State), I’m just so proud of these two guys. Especially defensively, that’s where this game was won. If this is the team we’ve got for the rest of the year I like our chances.”

Minnesota Crookston improves to 11-15 overall and 7-13 in NSIC play. The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday when UMC hosts Minnesota Duluth at 7:30 P.M. The University of Mary falls to 11-15 overall and 6-14 in conference play.