Huskies hang on for 83-73 victory over Sioux Falls

Saturday, December 15

St. Cloud, Minn.

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

9-2, 4-1NSIC

University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)

8-3, 3-2NSIC

Sioux Falls

St. Cloud State

Trevon Marshall achieved the elusive perfect game, going 6-6 from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

12/15/2018 8:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – There are some victories that are sweeter than others. For the St. Cloud State University men's basketball team, Saturday's victory over the University of Sioux Falls might just be one of those. In one of the team's most thrilling games of the season, the Huskies held on for an 83-73 victory over the Cougars, their fourth straight win in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play.

After an absolutely dominant offensive performance on Friday, St. Cloud State held nothing back in the opening minutes against Sioux Falls, taking an 8-0 lead in the opening four minutes of play. Senior Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) set the tone for the Huskies, as he made a three-pointer on the team's opening possession to give St. Cloud State an early 3-0 lead. From there, the Huskies scored five unanswered points with Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) and Jace Kitchen (Dekalb, Ill. / Dekalb) staring in their own show. Marshall's layup and-one extended St. Cloud State's lead to 6-0 before Kitchen's dunk sent vibrations through the crowd and gave the Huskies a 8-0 lead.

The Cougars did eventually manage to score, as they cut the Huskies lead to 8-5 thanks to baskets from Chase Grinde and Drew Guebert. However, St. Cloud State had an answer for both buckets eventually, as Marshall and Kitchen once again helped the team regain a comfortable 12-5 lead before Ethan Schuemer (Lombard, Ill. / Willowbrook) gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game at 14-5.

However, with two of the top five scorers in the league on the roster, Sioux Falls was certainly not down and out. In fact, the Cougars scored six unanswered points of their own to cut St. Cloud State's lead back down to a manageable three points at 14-11. Of course, the scoring run seemed to be just what the Huskies needed to jump start their offense, as Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) scored his first basket of the game, a three from the top of the key, to kick off a seven point scoring run for St. Cloud State.

Leading 21-11 with 6:26 remaining in the half, it seemed like a double-digit lead at halftime was all but guaranteed for the Huskies. However, Sioux Falls slowly but surely chipped away at St. Cloud State's lead, once again getting within three at 21-18 with 4:28 remaining in the half. That was when senior Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) decided to take matters into his own hands. After another quiet half, the senior scored eight of 11 points for the Huskies, helping the team take a 32-27 lead with 1:37 remaining in the half.

Of course, the Cougars weren't about to go into halftime quietly, as Trevon Evans' layup with 56 seconds left cut the lead to 32-29. Then, it looked like Sioux Falls had an opportunity to take its first lead of the game when Davis committed a turnover with 34 seconds on the clock. Still, the Huskies defense held the Cougars offense at bay for 24 seconds before forcing a turnover with 10 seconds remaining. As the clock wound down, senior Adam Heede-Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark / Stenhus Gymnasium) hoisted an awkward jumper in the air and watched it sail through the net to give St. Cloud State the 34-29 lead at half time.

Heede-Andersen's jumper swung the momentum back in the Huskies direction, as the team opened the second half by scoring five unanswered points. In fact, St. Cloud State's offense was on fire in the first 10 minutes of the second half, as the team led by as many as 17 points and held a 62-45 advantage over Sioux Falls with 10:34 remaining in regulation. Like in the first half, though, the Cougars were definitely not out of the game. Overtime, Sioux Falls slowly but surely whittled the Huskies lead to just 10 points, trailing 64-54 with under eight minutes to play.

Initially, St. Cloud State was able to answer Sioux Falls basket-for-basket, maintaining its 10 point lead for two full minutes. However, the Cougars eventually cut it down to 69-64 on a three-pointer by Guebert with 5:37 remaining in regulation.

After the three, Davis and Guebert traded baskets for a solid two minutes, neither one wanting to be outdone by the other. With four minutes left in regulation, Smith got in on the action, as his layup extended the lead to 75-67 before Guebert made it 75-71 with 2:57 remaining on the clock.

The Huskies maintained the 75-71 lead for two full minutes, forcing the Cougars to foul with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Fortunately, Smith was up for the task, as he drained four straight free throws to extend St. Cloud State's lead to 79-71. However, it was Davis who really sealed the victory for the Huskies, as his steal and dunk with 23 seconds remaining extended the lead to 81-71. While Sioux Falls managed to cut the lead to 81-73 with a layup, Theisen cemented the win with two free throws, clinching the 81-73 victory for St. Cloud State.

Smith and Davis were absolutely on fire for the Huskies, as they each scored 22 points a piece in the thrilling victory, while Smith added seven rebounds. However, it was Marshall who stole the show Saturday night, thanks to his perfect shooting performance. The junior guard was 6-6 from the floor and 4-4 from the line to finish the game with 13 points. Theisen added 11 points for St. Cloud State, while Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Howard College) added seven rebounds.

With the win, the Huskies overall record improves to 9-2 and the team is 4-1 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will return to action on December 30 when the team travels to Duluth, Minnesota for a 4 p.m. rematch with Minnesota-Duluth.