Huskies score 74-65 victory over Point Loma

Saturday, November 24

San Diego, CA

9:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

5-1

Point Loma

4-2

St. Cloud State

Point Loma

Gage Davis scored a team-leading 21 points in the victory over Point Loma!

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

11/25/2018 12:24:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – San Diego, California is known as the Fine City for multiple reasons. The city certainly was kind to the St. Cloud State University men's basketball team. The No. 16 ranked Huskies earned two wins at the Point Loma University Thanksgiving Classic over the weekend and capped it off with an impressive 74-65 win over the host school.

It was a tight contest between the two teams in the first half, as neither St. Cloud State nor Point Loma led by more than three points for the first five minutes of play. However, at exactly 14:30, Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) took matters into his own hands, draining three consecutive threes to give the Huskies a nine point lead with 13 minutes remaining in the half. Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) also contributed to St. Cloud State's scoring run, as he banked two jumpers to help his team to an 18-9 lead.

For the next three minutes, the Huskies did nothing but score and hold the Sea Lions scoreless, as Jace Kitchen (Dekalb, Ill. / Dekalb) and Ethan Schuemer (Lombard, Ill. / Willowbrook) helped the team hold a 24-13 win exactly halfway through the half. However, Point Loma slowly but surely chipped away at St. Cloud State's lead, eventually whittling it down to 24-23 at 7:17 remaining in the first half. In fact, the Sea Lions even managed to take a 32-31 lead three minutes later on a three-pointer from leading scorer Daulton Hommes.

Their lead, though, was very short lived, as Theisen once again drained a three to regain a 34-32 advantage for the Huskies. Davis and Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) closed out the half with a layup and jumper, helping St. Cloud State take a 38-34 lead into half time.

The game continued its back-and-forth nature at the start of the second half, as the Huskies and Point Loma traded one point leads throughout the first five minutes. Like it always does, St. Cloud State eventually found a rhythm offensively, going on a six point scoring run to take a 53-47 lead with 10. Minutes remaining. Kitchen, Smith and Davis all scored during the run, and all three of them helped the Huskies maintain the lead from that point on. Though the Sea Lions tried to regain and take the lead themselves, St. Cloud State's seniors kept the home team at bay, leading the Huskies to a 74-65 victory at the end of the day.

Davis was the team's leading scorer Saturday evening, scoring a team-leading 21 points and pulling in five rebounds in 37 minutes of play. Theisen ended the game with 17 points, while Kitchen scored a season and career high 16 in the victory. Smith and junior Diamond Onwuka (Seville, Spain / Howard College) each pulled in a team-leading six rebounds.

With the win, the Huskies overall record improves to 4-1 this season. St. Cloud State will return to the court on Saturday, December 1 when the team hosts the University of Minnesota-Duluth to open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. Tip off is scheduled for 4 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.