Men’s Basketball Extends Winning Streak To Four Games In 88-82 Victory Over Sioux Falls.

Friday, December 8

8 p.m.

St. Cloud State

6-2, 3-0NSIC

University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)

7-2, 3-1NSIC

Sioux Falls

St. Cloud State

Jon Averkamp

Photo by: Paul Middlestaedt

Men’s Basketball Extends Winning Streak To Four Games In 88-82 Victory Over Sioux Falls.

12/8/2017 11:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

St. Cloud, Minn. – Senior Jon Averkamp scored a season-high 27 points to help lead the St. Cloud State men's basketball team (6-2, 3-0 NSIC) to its fourth straight victory by an 88-82 score over Sioux Falls (7-2 3-1 NSIC) on Friday evening, Dec. 8, at Halenbeck Hall.

Averkamp recorded his 27 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field plus 11-for-13 shooting from the free throw line. He also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds and picked up four assists plus two steals and a block. Junior Sean Smith totaled 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocks plus three steals. Junior Adam Heede-Andersen had a career evening with 18 points and 10 assists. Junior Brindley Theisen reached double figures with 12 points plus six rebounds. Junior Jace Kitchen recorded a career-high eight points off the bench including 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Senior Andy Foley had a steady game with four points, seven rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal.

Sioux Falls was led by Trevon Evans 32 points. Evans also had six assists. Drew Guebert picked up 23 points and eight rebounds. Jerrod Walton also reached double figures with 12 points plus five rebounds.

The Huskies shot 52.9 percent for the game (27-for-51), 30.8 percent from three-point range (4-for-13) and 81.1 percent from the free throw line (30-for-37). The team shot a sizzling 68 percent from the field in the first half. Sioux Falls shot 44.6 percent from the field (29-for-65), 45 percent from three-point range (9-for-20) and 75 percent from the free throw line (15-for-20) in the contest. The team knocked down seven of their nine threes in the second half. SCSU outrebounded the Cougars 37-28, while also picking up seven blocks and nine steals.

SCSU took a 43-32 lead in the first half. The Cougars rallied though and tied the game at 65 all on a made three from Evans at the 5:47 mark. SCSU kept the team's composure with Kitchen calming knocking down a pair of free throws to give SCSU a 67-64 advantage and a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. The lead soared all the way to 10 points with a minute left in the game on a made free throw from Averkamp before the team had to survive a furious USF rally that had the team clinging to a four-point lead, 86-82, with :21 seconds remaining in the game. Heede-Andersen was fouled and knocked down both his free throws to ice the 88-82 win. The team's largest lead in the contest was 16 points early in the second half on a made three from Theisen, 50-34, at the 17:30 mark. The game only featured that one tied scored with SCSU holding the lead for over 39 minutes of the game.

St. Cloud State men's basketball keeps the home stand going and hosts Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m.

Notes:
- Jon Averkamp's 27 points was the seventh time in eight games this season that he has led or tied for the team lead in scoring.
- He has scored 25 or more points in five games this season and eight times in his career.
- This was the second career game that Adam Heede-Andersen has reached double figures in points and his 18 points shattered his previous high of 11 points against Sioux Falls two seasons ago (1/30/16).
- His 10 assists marked the first time that an SCSU player has reached double figures in assists since Gage Davis had 11 assists against Minot State last season (2/11/17).
- Sean Smith has now reached double figures in four games this season and just missed tying his career-high of 19 points with his 18 points against Sioux Falls.
- Smith tied for the team lead in rebounds for the sixth time this season with eight boards.
- Brindley Theisen has reached double figures in scoring in seven of the eight games this season after scoring 12 points against USF.