UMC MEN’S BASKETBALL USES BIG SHOTS TO BEAT WINONA STATE

The University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagle Men’s Basketball team came up with big shots when they needed them and held on to beat the Winona State Warriors 77-69 in a Northern Sun Conference game at Lysaker Gymnasium in Crookston.

FIRST HALF-
Winona State came out strong and built a 5-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. UMC finally got on the board with a Jordan Mitchell basket 3:35 into the game. The Golden Eagles tied the game at 5-5 after a Reid Grant (Jr. Johnson, IA) three-pointer. After a Winona State three-pointer, UMC responded with a 9-0 run to take a 14-8 lead halfway through the half. UMC had the lead for the next six minutes until Winona State buried a three-pointer for a 26-25 lead with under four minutes remaining. UMC responded with two Peter Fuchs Jr. (Fresh Wausau, WI) free throws and a steal and layup from Mario Adams for a 29-26 lead. Winona State scored the next four points before UMC’s Blaize Sagna (Jr. London, England) made a free throw with three seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at 30-30 going into halftime.

SECOND HALF-
The second half was a back-and-forth battle as the score was tied at 32, 34, 44, 46, and 47. Winona State built a 51-47 lead before UMC’s Fuchs made a jump shot, Sagna added a three-pointer before making two free throws, and Grant scored on a layup for a 56-51 lead with 6:06 left in the game.  UMC had a 67-61 lead 2:23 remaining, but Winona State made a three-pointer. The Golden Eagles responded with a big-time three-pointer by Grant with 1:13 left and held on the rest of the way for a 77-69 victory.

UMC improves to 5-10 on the season and 2-7 in the NSIC and will host #2 ranked Minnesota State Mankato on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. You can hear the game on KROX RADIO.