CROOKSTON, Minn. —- The game remained close throughout Friday evening but it was Minnesota State that was able to pull away at the end as the Mavericks bested Minnesota Crookston 71-66 on the road.

With the win, MSU improves to 13-4, including a 7-4 NSIC record. With the loss, UMC drops to 1-16, including a 0-11 conference record.

The early going of the first half saw both teams hold the lead on multiple occasions. UMC built a four-point lead at 16-12 with 13:36 to go in the half, but the Mavericks would respond with a 10-4 run over the next four minutes to reclaim the lead at 22-20.

With juts 5:08 to go in the half a three pointer from freshman Dawson Rudolph tied the score at 30-30. The Golden Eagles would then finish the half on a 12-3 run to take a 42-33 lead into halftime.

Senior Trevor Moore led the Mavericks in the first half with 11 points, while sophomore Kyreese Willingham notched nine points. As a team, MSU shot 41.7% from the field in the first half.

Blaize Sagna led all scorers in the first half with 14 points, while Chandler Meeks tallied nine points. As a team, UMC shot 43.8% from the filed in the first half.

The second half saw the Mavericks open with an 11-0 run to regain the lead at 44-42 with 14:37 to go. The lead would exchange hands four more times over the next four minutes as the Mavericks and Golden Eagles were knotted up at 49-49 with 9:51 to go in the game.

With just under eight minutes to go UMC led by one at 52-51, before MSU put together an 8-2 run, including four points from both Moore and Willingham to go up 59-54 with 4:03 remaining. The Golden Eagles would not get any close than three points the rest of the way as the Mavericks went on to secure the 71-66 win.

Willingham led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, to go along with eight rebounds. Moore notched 24 points, including a 13-of-14 performance from the line, to go along with four steals. Sophomore Tyrell Stuttley added 11 points as well.

As a team, MSU shot 38.2% from the field, to go along with a 24-of-33 (.727) showing from the free throw line.

Sagna led the Golden Eagles with 26 points, while Meeks tallied 12 points.

As a team, UMC shot 33.3% from the field.

Minnesota State continues its road trip on Saturday as it takes on the Bemidji State Beavers. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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