Fouls derail Huskies in 91-81 loss to UMD

Saturday, December 1

St. Cloud, Minn.

4 p.m.

St. Cloud State

5-2, 0-1NSIC

University of Minnesota Duluth

4-0, 1-0NSIC

Minn. Duluth

St. Cloud State

Gage Davis scores on an alley oop dunk in the first half against Minnesota-Duluth.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

12/1/2018 6:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The No. 13/20 St. Cloud State University men's basketball team had everything going for it entering Saturday afternoon's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) opener against the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The Huskies were riding a four-game win streak against their conference rival and dominated in both meetings between the two teams last season. Unfortunately, things did not continue to roll St. Cloud State's way against the Bulldogs, as the team fell to Minnesota-Duluth 91-81 in its conference opener.

The Huskies high powered offense struggled to find its grove in the first half, as they trailed 14-8 eight minutes into the game. In fact, the Bulldogs defense held leading scorers Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) and Sean Smith (Athens, Ga. / Canarias Basketball Academy) to a combined four points through the first 10 minutes, as the two seniors only managed to score one basket a piece. St. Cloud State also struggled defensively, committing seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes to fall behind 16-8.

While the Huskies started making baskets, their defensive struggles continued. For every basket they made, Minnesota-Duluth seemed to have an answer, extending their lead to 28-16 with 6:52 remaining in the half. Eventually, though, St. Cloud State did manage to find a groove, thanks in large part to Davis. The senior scored an impressive 12 points in the first half on 5-9 shooting from the floor, including a monster dunk to cut the Bulldog lead to 39-33 at the half.

The Huskies shooting woes, however, continued in the second half. Though the team managed to cut the lead to 39-35 on a layup from Diamond Onwuka (Seville, Spain / Howard College), St. Cloud didn't score another basket for another three minutes, allowing Minnesota-Duluth to extend the lead back to 10 points.

Foul trouble also hurt the Huskies late in the second half, as both Smith and Jace Kitchen (Dekalb, Ill. / Dekalb) all had four fouls before the 10 minute mark. Onwuka also committed three fouls before the midway point of the second quarter, while Davis and Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) each had two.

Still, St. Cloud State did all it could to regain any semblance of momentum, but every time things seemed to be going the Huskies way, something happened to swing the momentum right back in the Bulldogs direction. Onwuka was called for his fourth foul on a seemingly fine block, allowing Minnesota-Duluth to extend its lead back to 10 points at 59-49. Later, St. Cloud State would lost both Onwuka and Kitchen less than two minutes apart, as both fouled around the eight minute mark. At the same time, only one Bulldog was in foul trouble, as Sean Burns received his fourth foul early in the second half.

After losing Onwuka and Kitchen, the Huskies never really were able to find their spark, despite some big offensive plays from Theisen and Smith. Theisen's three got St. Cloud State within eight of Minnesota-Duluth's lead, while two statement dunks from Smith cut the lead to 67-59 with 4:05 remaining in regulation. However, the Huskies never could catch the Bulldogs, as Smith fouled out around the three-minute mark, resulting in the loss of their No. 2 scorer for the afternoon. Though Davis, Adam Heede-Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark / Stenhus Gymnasium) and Marshall did all they could in the final minutes, they never could catch the Bulldogs, resulting in the 91-81 loss.

Davis was once again the team's leading rebounder and scorer, finishing the game with 25 points and nine rebounds thanks to shooting .563 from the floor and .833 from beyond the arc. Smith ended the game with 17 points and six rebounds, while Onwuka scored a caereer-high 12 points in the loss. Heede-Andersen also added 11 points.

With the loss, St. Cloud State's overall record falls to 5-2 and it is currently 0-1 in NSIC play. The Huskies will look to rebound next weekend when the travel to North Dakota to take on the University of Mary on Friday and Minot State on Saturday.