Box Score Minnesota Crookston 70 Wayne State 68

            Wayne State nearly rallied back from a 16-point second half deficit but just fell short in a 70-68 setback at Minnesota Crookston Friday evening in a Northern Sun Conference men's basketball contest played at Lyskaer Gymnasium in Crookston, Minnesota.  The Golden Eagles improve to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the Northern Sun, while the Wildcats drop to 2-6 oveNrall and 1-3 in conference play.
            The first half was a seesaw battle featuring six ties and three lead changes.  With the score tied 7-7 with 17:07 remaining in the first half, the Golden Eagles used a 22-12 run in the next nine minutes to take a 29-19 lead with 7:13 to play in the half.  The Wildcats responded by scoring the next 10 points on a Matt Thomas 3-pointer, Joel Heesch layup, and a Spencer Pauley jumper to tie the game 29-29 with 1:08 to play.  The Golden Eagles used a last second trey from Kobe Critchley to take the 35-32 lead into the intermission.
            Minnesota Crookston came out firing on all cylinders in the second half, opening up on a 18-5 run to take their largest lead of the game at 53-37 with 14:40 remaining.  Once again the Wildcats responded with a 20-4 run over the next seven minutes, led by Brian Goodwin who hit three treys and a jumper in that time frame, along with two layups by Austin Esters, and a layup from David Andersen. 
            The Golden Eagles ended the run on a layup from Nate Lorenz, as the Wildcats were never able to regain the lead.  Minnesota Crookston led 65-62, before a Matt Thomas 3-pointer tied the game up once again with 1:58 to play. 
            A David Andersen free throw made it a one point game at 69-68 with 33 seconds remaining.  The Wildcats regained possession after a Golden Eagle turnover with 25 seconds left.  Wayne State was unable to convert on three layup attempts in the last nine seconds before Nate Lorenz grabbed the defensive rebound for the Golden Eagles and was fouled by Wayne State with two seconds left.  Lorenz converted one of his two free throw shots to make it a 70-68 contest.  A last second three-point attempt from Matt Thomas fell just short to end the game.
          Wayne State finished the game making 21 of 51 shots for 40.4%, and converted 7 of 11 shots from behind the 3-point line.  The Wildcats finished the game 19 of 27 from the charity stripe. 
         Goodwin and Thomas were the only Wildcats in double-figures, scoring 13 points apiece.  Goodwin finished 4 of 4 from the field, 3 for 3 behind the arc, and 2 of 3 from the free throw line. 
         Minnesota Crookston was 25 of 54 from the field for 46.3 percent, going 9 for 17 behind the arc and 11 for 15 at the free throw line.  Kobe Critchley led all scorers with 18 points followed by C.J. Polk and Derrick Redd with 16 and 10 points respectively.
         The Wildcats held the slight 35-32 edge in rebounding over the Golden Eagles with David Andersen grabbing a team-high seven boards followed by Adam Moon with six.  Minnesota Crookston's top rebounder was Nate Lorenz with seven.
            WSC had two less turnovers than Minnesota Crookston, 19-17.  Vance Janssen had a season-high two steals for the 'Cats, while Adam Moon recorded two of Wayne State's five blocked shots in the contest.
            Wayne State returns to action Saturday evening on the road again travelling to Bemidji, Minnesota for a Northern Sun contest against Bemidji State starting at 6 p.m.