BISMARCK, ND – A balanced attack and a determined defensive effort against one of the top offenses in the Northern Sun earned the University of Mary men's basketball team a valuable win. At home after playing four straight road games and seven of nine away from the McDowell Activity Center, the Marauders knocked off the University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles 76-67.
The Marauders improved to 8-11 overall and 5-8 in the NSIC with the takedown of the team directly in front of UMary in the NSIC North division standings. The Golden Eagles, who came into the game fourth in the league in scoring at over 80 points per game, slips to 13-9 and 6-7.
Forcing the issue on both sides of the ball, the Marauders finished +8 in turnovers as the Golden Eagles threw the ball away 17 times to just nine for UMary. The Marauders also held a 40-34 rebounding advantage, leading UMary to attempt 16 more field goals and 11 more free throws.
Dennis Austin III had a big role in the Marauders defensive efforts. The senior guard made five of UMary's 12 steals in the game. In a balanced night he added ten points, six rebounds and a team-high six assists.
Jaylan White led the Marauders in points with 17, doing much of his damage at the free throw line. The junior guard finished 8-of-9 at the line and chipped in two assists and a steal.
Matthew Kreklow posted a double double with 14 points and ten rebounds.
Tom Kubank, who just missed a double double with 16 points and nine rebounds, was 3-for-5 behind the arc.
Connor Hellebust and
Trever Kaiser both added seven points.
Chase Knickerbocker and Brian Sitzmann posted 14 points apiece with the damage coming downtown. The two were a combined 7-of-10 on treys with Sitzmann hitting all four of his attempts.
Defensively the Marauders shut down Harrison Cleary. One of the conference's leading scorers with an average of 24 points/game, Clearly was limited to a season-low nine points on 3-of-7 shooting. He also was forced into committing six turnovers.
Despite shooting just 36.4 percent from the floor, including a 6-of-18 effort behind the arc, the Marauders found a way to outscore the Golden Eagles, in large part at UMary knocked down 22-of-27 free throw attempts (81.5 percent). UMC shot a solid 44 percent and went 11-of-23 on treys and 12-of-16 at the line. Despite solid shooting numbers, the Golden Eagles couldn't overcome the disparity in rebounding and turnovers.
A closely contested contest all evening, the Marauders led by as many as eight in the first half before entering intermission down 32-30.
Neither team was able to pull away in the second half as the two squads swapped leads seven times. It was the Marauders who grabbed the lead last on a Kreklow jumper, moving in front 54-53 with just under ten minutes remaining in the game. A Hellebust basket on UMary's next possession boosted the lead to 56-53 but the Marauders were unable to shake free from the Golden Eagles until six minutes remained in the game.
Leading 63-60, the Marauders scored nine straight points to finally create some separation. White started the run with pair of free throws and a layup. After a Kreklow basket, Kubank drained a triple in front of the Marauders bench to push the UMary advantage to 72-60.
Making one last run, the Golden Eagles pulled within 73-67 before Kubank hit three straight free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the victory.
The Marauders close out their alumni weekend with a visit from Bemidji State University. Tip off is set for 5:30 pm at the McDowell Activity Center.
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