Crookston, Minn. –  Minnesota State opened the second half scoring 31 of the first 45 points to erase a one-point halftime deficit and earn a 74-65 victory over the University of Minnesota, Crookston, in downtown Crookston Tuesday evening.

“I thought our defense really created opportunities for us offensively in the second half,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  “We were really balanced tonight and it was good to see production from everyone.”

Minnesota, Crookston led the entire first half, opening a 39-38 advantage.  The Golden Eagles, who hit on 58.1 percent of its shots in the opening half, saw six of their seven players which played in the first half score, including 15 by guard Akeem Cubie.

Minnesota State wouldn’t go away however as sophomore guard Travis Meinders scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from downtown to pace the Maverick attack.  

The Mavericks grabbed their first lead of the game early in the second half when sophomore forward #Connor O’Brien# hit a lay-up.  Senior guard Stephen Kirschbaum added a three-pointer and sophomore #Jimmy Whitehead# used a transition lay-up as the Mavericks opened a six-point advantage.

UMC would convert the back-end of a two-shot free throw attempt before O’Brien converted a nifty lay-up to push MSU’s lead to seven at 47-40 with 16:12 remaining. 

Whitehead then went coast-to-coast for a lay-up and O’Brien gathered a steal and flushed it home to give MSU a 51-50 lead with 15:10 minutes remaining in the game. 

Minnesota, Crookston wouldn’t go away however as it used back-to-back traditional three-point plays to cut the Maverick lead to four at 51-47 with 14:14 remaining.

Kirschbaum ended the run with a lay-up to push the lead back to six before sophomore forward Alex Hanks hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight.   Whitehead then reopened a ten-point lead with a lay-up with 10:33 remaining, forcing a Minnesota, Crookston timeout.

Minnesota State opened its then biggest lead of the game at 61-49 when Hanks found O’Brien on back-to-back possessions for an easy lay-up.

From that point on, Minnesota State controlled the pace of the game and held on for the win, opening a lead as big as 17 with 6:40 remaining.

O’Brien finished with 14 points while Whitehead added 13.   Kirschbaum poured in 12 points and Meinders and freshman guard Kelly Madison each scored 11.  Freshman guard #Zach Romashko# hauled in a team-high eight rebounds to go with his eight points.

Minnesota State forced 13 turnovers in the win, converting them into 16 points and saw its bench outscore UMC’s, 21-4.

The Mavericks (4-8, 3-5 NSIC) travel to Southwest Minnesota State Saturday for a 6 p.m., game with the Mustangs.

Coach Margenthaler talks about the win following the game, click HERE

Connor O'Brien talks about the win: