MINOT STATE HITS THEIR LATE FREE THROWS TO SWEEP UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL

The University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC) Men’s Basketball team’s late second half rally came up short as the Minot State Beavers made all eight of their free throws in the final two minutes of the game to hold on for a 77-72 victory in a Northern Sun Conference game played in Crookston. 

FIRST HALF 
UMC started the game with a lot of energy and scored the first points of the game with a Josh Dilling (Fres. Oshkosh, Wis) basket. The teams were tied at 2 and 4 before Dilling had a three-point play to give the Golden Eagles a 7-4 lead. Minot State answered with a three-pointer before UMC answered with four straight points with two from Brian Sitzmann (Jr. Savage) and a nice layup from Zach Westphal (Soph. West Fargo, ND) for an 11-7 lead six minutes into the game. “We started the game with a lot of energy,” said UMC Coach Dan Weisse. “It was a good start on both ends of the court.”  Minot State battled back and trailed 13-12 when they went on a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Minot State slowly built a lead the rest of the first half and took a 35-24 lead with 1:35 left in the half. UMC’s Josh Dilling took over and scored five straight points, but Minot State ended the half with a three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 38-29 victory into halftime.  “We had a great start, but we didn’t keep the energy for all 20 minutes of the half,” said Coach Weisse. “It was with about seven minutes left in the half we didn’t have the energy the rest of the half and it showed.”

SECOND HALF
Minot State took a double-digit lead right away in the second half and kept it around 10 points for over 12 minutes of the half and they led 64-48 with 7:01 left in the game. The 16 point lead was the biggest of the game for Minot State. UMC got a big spark about a minute later when Dilling made a three-pointer, Ibu Jassey-Demba (Sr. England) added two free throws and after a Minot State free throw, Dilling made another three-pointer and the Golden Eagles trailed by nine (65-66) with less than five minutes left in the game. Minot State answered with a basket before UMC went on an 8-0 run with a three-pointer from Jassey-Demba, a layup from Sitzmann, and a three-point play from Dilling to get within a 67-64 deficit with 2:07 left. Minot State struggled from the free throw line throughout the game and only made 6 of 11 shots. In the final two minutes of the game, Minot State made all eight of their free throws to seal a 77-72 victory.
UMC was outrebounded 33-19 in the game and they were outscored 38-20 in the paint. “We have to get tougher,” said Coach Weisse.
Josh Dilling scored a career high 24 points in the game to lead UMC. “Josh had a great game, he attacked the rim and had an and-one play,” said Coach Weisse. “He had some nice passes and he played a pretty solid game for us today.”

UMC drops to 1-7 overall and 0-6 in the NSIC North and will travel to the University of Mary on Friday, January 29. Minot State improves to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the NSIC North.

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