Minnesota-Duluth veteran guards Peter Crawford and Jordan Reetz enjoyed a senior moment tonight at the expense of the University of Sioux Falls men's basketball squad.
It was a duo USF had no answer for at Romano Gymnasium on Friday night, as Crawford (34 points) and Reetz (30) lit up the Cougars and UMD rolled to an 86-64 victory to improve to 6-0 at home. The tandem went a combined 19-for-28 from the field and 20-for-21 from the line.
The loss also drops USF to 2-13 in league road contests since joining the NSIC last season. USF (6-7, 3-6 NSIC) has not notched a victory away from the Stewart Center since defeating Concordia-St. Paul 73-66 on Feb. 23, 2013.
USF jumped in front 5-0 after Derek Brown's triple, but the Bulldogs (6-7, 4-5 NSIC) were determined from the start, responding with an 8-0 run before a traditional three-point play from Jones provided the Cougars with their final lead of the game at 10-8.
The Bulldogs stretched their lead to eight at 25-17 near the midway point of the first half. Robert Goffney's three-pointer and a Stotts layup and two free throws narrowed the Cougars' deficit to 39-35 at halftime.
UMD opened the second half with a 7-0 run that extended the margin to 11 at 46-35. USF pulled within nine at 52-43 with a Mack Johnson triple but saw its offense dry up while the Bulldogs used a 16-2 run to put the game out of reach.
USF shot 48-percent in the game's first 20 minutes but cooled down considerably in the second half. The Cougars shot just 39 percent (23-of-59) for the game and made 8-of-25 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs went 27-for-49 from the floor, 7-for-13 from deep and made 25 of 27 free throw attempts. The Cougars held a 29-26 advantage in rebounds, while the USF reserves outscored the Bulldog bench 19-8. UMD gained 27 points off of 21 Cougar turnovers.
USF closes out the weekend tomorrow evening at St. Cloud State.
