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Minnesota, Crookston knocked off MSU-Moorhead Saturday 82-79 in Crookston. The MSU-Moorhead Dragons had recently dropped out of the top 25 rankings and Saturday's upset is another blemish on their record.
In the lone game of the weekend for the two rivals, the Golden Eagles improve to 6-12 overall and 2-12 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. MSU-Moorhead is now 13-5 overall and 9-5 in the NSIC.
"It was a good win," Golden Eagle Head Coach Jeff Oseth said. "We've had a lot of games kind of like that that have gone the other way. We found a way down the stretch to grind it out."
Senior Akeem Cubie led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 19 points, while adding eight rebounds. Sophomore center Keith Newberry notched a double-double with 16 points, ten rebounds. Junior point guard Almir Krdzalic had 14 points and seven assists, while senior guard Jacolby Anderson and junior shooting guard Justin Rake each had ten points.
"One of things that was happening was Moorhead was sagging in defensively," noted Coach Oseth. "We made the change to go smaller. I told Almir to go make some plays. Justin hit some huge threes, Keith Newberry got some big rebounds and kicked it out. Alan Sharp was the unsung hero of the night. A lot of guys stepped up. It was nice to see all the guys make plays down the stretch for us.
"We shot the ball pretty well," Coach Oseth continued. "It was good to see Almir get up in double figures, Keith's double-double and Justin making threes. You gotta have that balanced scoring. It seemed to come along very well. Moorhead is a good team and this is a big win for us."
Andrew Vanhavermaet led the Dragons with 18 points, while Jake Driscoll and Jake Lindfors each added 13 points.
The Golden Eagles dominated in the paint, outscoring the Dragons 34-10.
"We got down came back, got down came back," said Coach Oseth. "We found a way to make plays down the stretch and they missed some free throws. We just made more plays than Moorhead did. It was the opposite of our last game against them. We made one or two more plays to beat them this time."
Vanhavermaet put MSU-Moorhead up 8-2 in the opening minutes of the game with a pair of threes and an bucket.
Minnesota, Crookston knocked off MSU-Moorhead Saturday 82-79 in Crookston. The MSU-Moorhead Dragons had recently dropped out of the top 25 rankings and Saturday's upset is another blemish on their record.
In the lone game of the weekend for the two rivals, the Golden Eagles improve to 6-12 overall and 2-12 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. MSU-Moorhead is now 13-5 overall and 9-5 in the NSIC.
"It was a good win," Golden Eagle Head Coach Jeff Oseth said. "We've had a lot of games kind of like that that have gone the other way. We found a way down the stretch to grind it out."
Senior Akeem Cubie led the Golden Eagles in scoring with 19 points, while adding eight rebounds. Sophomore center Keith Newberry notched a double-double with 16 points, ten rebounds. Junior point guard Almir Krdzalic had 14 points and seven assists, while senior guard Jacolby Anderson and junior shooting guard Justin Rake each had ten points.
"One of things that was happening was Moorhead was sagging in defensively," noted Coach Oseth. "We made the change to go smaller. I told Almir to go make some plays. Justin hit some huge threes, Keith Newberry got some big rebounds and kicked it out. Alan Sharp was the unsung hero of the night. A lot of guys stepped up. It was nice to see all the guys make plays down the stretch for us.
"We shot the ball pretty well," Coach Oseth continued. "It was good to see Almir get up in double figures, Keith's double-double and Justin making threes. You gotta have that balanced scoring. It seemed to come along very well. Moorhead is a good team and this is a big win for us."
Andrew Vanhavermaet led the Dragons with 18 points, while Jake Driscoll and Jake Lindfors each added 13 points.
The Golden Eagles dominated in the paint, outscoring the Dragons 34-10.
"We got down came back, got down came back," said Coach Oseth. "We found a way to make plays down the stretch and they missed some free throws. We just made more plays than Moorhead did. It was the opposite of our last game against them. We made one or two more plays to beat them this time."
Vanhavermaet put MSU-Moorhead up 8-2 in the opening minutes of the game with a pair of threes and an bucket.
Minnesota, Crookston answered, though, with a 9-1 run over the next six minutes to go up 11-9. The Dragons replied right back with a 10-0 run over about two minutes and went up 19-11.
A few minutes later in the first half, MSU-Moorhead led 30-22 when Minnesota, Crookston scored the next nine points for a 31-30 lead with three minutes, 35 seconds left. The teams battled for the rest of the half and the Dragons took a 38-36 lead into the half.
MSU-Moorhead didn't give up its lead in the second half until six minutes remaining when Krdzalic laid in a bucket to make it 68-67. A 9-2 run by the Dragons, though, quickly stretched the lead back to six points with three minutes, 20 seconds left.
Minnesota, Crookston answered back with an 8-1 run over a two-minute span that was capped by a Rake three pointer to make it 78-77 UMC with about a minute left.
"Justin's three pointers were huge," Coach Oseth said of Rake's key threes.
MSU-Moorhead hit two free throws with 48 seconds left to take the lead but Newberry answered for UMC with a layup with 22 seconds left.
On the ensuing Dragon possession, they missed a layup and Newberry rebounded. Golden Eagle Alan Sharp hit two free throws with five seconds left to give UMC an 82-79 lead and the Dragons missed a last ditch three pointer at the buzzer.
Minnesota, Crookston shot 46.4 percent (32-69) from the field, including 29.4 percent (5-17) from beyond the arc. MSU-Moorhead shot 44.9 percent (22-49) from the field and was 50 percent (11-22) from three-point land.
It was the most field goal attempts in a game this season for the Golden Eagles.
Minnesota, Crookston will host Mary and Northern State next Friday and Saturday, respectively. Friday's game tips off at 8 p.m., while Saturday's opening tip will be at 6 p.m.
When asked if Saturday's win was even more of a boost for his squad because it was the only game of the weekend, Coach Oseth explained, "It was a huge win. If I had my way I'd play on Wednesday and Saturday. For the smaller schools it's a little tougher having to go two nights in a row. It all has to do with depth. This week we knew what we were going to get and we were able to prepare all week long. Friday night we've always been there and Saturday night is always what do we have left in the tank."
NSIC Standings
Team Conf. Overall
Winona State 14-1 19-2
St. Cloud State 12-3 16-3
Bemidji State 10-5 15-6
MSU-Moorhead 9-5 13-5
Augustana 9-6 12-7
Minnesota, Duluth 9-6 12-7
Southwest Minn. State 9-6 10-9
Northern State 8-7 12-7
Minnesota State 6-9 7-12
Concordia-St. Paul 5-10 8-11
Upper Iowa 4-11 7-12
Wayne State 4-11 5-14
Mary 3-12 4-15
Minnesota, Crookston 2-12 6-12
