CROOKSTON "Once it started to slide, we had that deer in the headlights look," Minnesota-Crookston coach Jeff Oseth said.
It was a look the UND men's basketball team had seen earlier in the night.
A few hours earlier, the Sioux saw a deer in the headlights look when the their team bus struck a deer on U.S. Highway 2 en route to its matchup with the Golden Eagles.
A few hours later, the Sioux ran over Minnesota-Crookston in the final eight minutes to top the Golden Eagles 75-62 at the Lysaker gymnasium Wednesday in the regular-season opener for both teams.
The win came in the official coaching debut of Brian Jones, who took over the Sioux program in May after Rich Glas stepped down after 18 seasons .
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The Sioux needed the furious comeback down the stretch to erase a sloppy start.
With Logan Otten's 3-pointer from the top of the key, the Golden Eagles took a 57-49 lead with 8 minutes, 45 seconds left in the game.
Minnesota-Crookston, however, would make only one more basket from the field the rest of the way an Aaron Smith 3-pointer with 36 seconds to go. By that time, UND had the game in firm control.
"We talked in a timeout and said we weren't going to let this happen," UND post Tyler Koenig said. "We buckled down."
UND outscored the Golden Eagles 23-5 over the last eight minutes. The Sioux rallied with an effective inside game.
Koenig gave UND the lead with a spin move down low for a 60-59 lead. On UND's next possession, Koenig fed a cutting Harry Boyce to bump the lead to three. Mike Gutter added six points in the final stretch as UND's balance played a big role.
Gutter, Josh Doyle, Boyce and Ervin Youmans hit free throws down the stretch to ice it.
Youmans finished with a game-high 19 points, nailing all three 3-pointers he shot.
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Koenig contributed 11 points, often utilizing spin moves in the low post. It was Koenig's most extensive playing time since coming to UND. After transferring from Division I Wisconsin-Green Bay, Koenig sat out last year because of a knee injury
"Every day (Koenig) gets better and better," Jones said. "Our guys get a rush when he does well because he's had such a long trail back."
"Me and Gutter were both able to use our strength," said Koenig, who played 21 minutes. "The first two exhibition games, I only played about 10 minutes. This was by far my best game since my injury."
Minnesota-Crookston built an early 8-2 lead and led by eight in the second half. Turnovers and missed opportunities, however, did in the Golden Eagles.
"We played three-fourths of a good game and one-fourth of a bad game," Oseth said. "The difference was North Dakota ||?Page=002 Column=003 Loose,0006.05?||inside. Koenig made some nice plays down low."
The Golden Eagles were led by 11 points from Mario Bonner.
The Sioux outshot Minnesota-Crookston 68.8 percent to 32.4 percent in the second half.
"We started to get better shots and got to the foul line," Jones said.
