SIOUX FALLS -- The dynamic duo of Trevon Evans (23 points) and Drew Guebert (20 points) added a third in Aaron Rothermund (17 points) as the University of Sioux Falls Men's Basketball Team (20-9) shot a season-best 60.3 percent in rolling to a 98-68 win over Minnesota Crookston (10-19) in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Postseason Tournament before 1,009 in attendance, including a large student contingent, at the Stewart Center.

USF picked up its third consecutive opening round win in the league tournament but the first one at the Stewart Center. With the win, the Cougars recorded their 20th win of the season, another first at the NCAA DII level. USF has matched the record of the Cougars' last 20-win season in 2011-12, also coached by head coach Chris Johnson.

"This was a really special performance by a group of guys that keep putting in hard work to improve," said Johnson, who recorded his 192nd career win and coached his fifth 20-win team. "I couldn't be more proud of any team. The came out in a flurry tonight and never looked back."

With the victory, USF moves to 3-5 all-time in the postseason tournament. The Cougars will advance to the league tournament quarterfinals for the third straight year and face North No. 2 seed St. Cloud State on Sunday at 8 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.

Guebert and Evans scored 20 points in the same game for the sixth time this year. Evans, who registered his 16th, 20-point game this season and his 25th double digit scoring game also had his third double double. Evans had a career-high 10 assists as he also added five steals and four rebounds. Evans was 10-of-16 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from three point range. With 598 points this season, he has tied Stacy Kooistra (1992-93) for 12th all-time at USF with 598 points.

As for Guebert, he knocked in 6-of-14 shots, including 3-of-7 from three-point range and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe. He also dished three assists and grabbed four rebounds. Guebert, who now has 1,382 career points, pushed his season total to 574, which ranks 14th all-time. 

Rothermund was on fire as he made 6-of-9 field goals, including a career-best 5-of-7 from three-point range. He hit three of the treys during an eight-minute period of the second half when USF distanced themselves from the Golden Eagles.  Also for the Cougars, Justin Taylor added six points, all on dunks and Teathloach Pal supplied eight points on 4-of-5 shooting while supplying four rebounds.

The biggest story of the night was how the Cougars torched the nets from start to finish. The Cougars hit a blistering 16-of-29 field goals for 55.2 percent in the opening 20 minutes of play and then sizzled in the second half at a 64.7 percent clip on 22-of-34 shooting. As a result, they blazed the nets at a 60.3 percent clip on 38-of-63 shooting.  And, the Cougars did much of that hot-shooting came from distance as they made a season-high 14-of-25 from three-point land for 56 percent.

The Cougars, who captured the rebound battle for the 20th time this year with a 36-to-32 advantage, also set a season-high in points with 98. Jacoby Odegaard's only shot, a three-pointer with 34 seconds left, pushed USF to the final total.

Minnesota-Crookston, which had 26 points from the league's scoring champion Harrison Cleary, had problems on offense. Playing with a short bench, the Golden Eagles hit 37.5 percent in the first half on 9-of-24 shooting and 33.3 percent on 12-of-36 shooting in the second half to finish at 35 percent (21-of-60). While they made 20-of-23 free throws, they were only 6-of-17 from distance. In addition, they had 13 turnovers as the Cougars recorded five blocks and nine steals.

USF's dominance in the paint was another indicator of the final tally as USF had a 42-22 advantage in the paint. The Cougars also had a 14-0 edge in fast break points and 20-13 margin in points off turnovers.

USF, which led from start to finish, raced to an 11-1 lead, took a 41-27 advantage to the halftime break and used a 57-41 margin in the second half to record its second straight win over the Golden Eagles and run their series lead to 9-2.

Game Breakdown –
The Cougars opened quickly as a three from Drew Maschoff keyed the 11-1 start. The Golden Eagles rallied back as Cleary knocked home a pair of threes to draw within 13-9 at the 11:51 mark.  USF answered with a 13-6 run as Zach Wessels's jumper (6:13) set the lead back at double digits (26-15). UMC tried to answer as a Cleary jumper was part of a 10-6 run to pull within seven at 32-25 with 2:58 to play. But the Cougars closed strong with their own 9-2 burst as Guebert scored six points and Rothermund's three with 16 seconds left gave USF a 41-27 lead.

Like they did in the opening 20 minutes, the Cougars came out on fire in the second half. In the opening 4:18, USF knocked down five threes, including two each from Rothermund and Evans, and ran off a 21-4 run to up the advantage to 31 points (62-31) and for all purposes put the game away. UMC could draw no closer than 23 points the rest of the way.

The Cougars passed the 90-point mark for the eighth time on one of Taylor's jams. Then after Johnson cleared his bench, Odegaard hit the three for the Cougar's season-high in points as the bench and the crowd erupted on a feel good night at the Stewart Center.