Huskies drop battle in Duluth 75-60

Sunday, December 30

Duluth, MN

4 p.m.

St. Cloud State

9-3 (4-2NSIC)

University of Minnesota Duluth

6-4 (3-3NSIC)

St. Cloud State

Minnesota Duluth

Gage Davis recorded his sixth 20+ scoring performance against an NSIC opponent Sunday evening.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

12/30/2018 5:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

DULUTH, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team was hoping to get the second half of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) on the right foot. The Huskies had a chance to avenge an early season loss to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in their final game of 2018 and the first conference match up of the second half of the season. Unfortunately, St. Cloud State's explosive offense ran into a defensive wall, as the team suffered just its second loss in NSIC play 75-60 at the hands of Minnesota-Duluth.

The Huskies early struggles unfortunately continued, as they found themselves in an eerily similar position against the Bulldogs. At the first media time out, St. Cloud State trailed Minnesota-Duluth 10-8 and struggled to score in its early offensive possessions. However, the Huskies offense and defense slowly started to figure things out as the game progressed. Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) cut the Bulldog lead to 13-11 by making the Huskies first three of the game and eventually gave the team its first lead at 14-13 with another three less than a minute later.

Still, St. Cloud State couldn't quite shake Minnesota-Duluth, as the two teams continued to exchange the lead, much like children unhappy with their Christmas presents. For every basket the Huskies scored, the Bulldogs seemed to have an answer and eventually took a 19-16 lead despite St. Cloud State's best defensive attempts. However, the Huskies managed to get back within one, as Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Howard College) came up with a rebound and put back to cut the Minnesota-Duluth lead to 19-18 at 9:11.

Despite tying the game at 19, the Bulldogs would go one to take a 27-19 lead over the Huskies with 6:22 remaining in the first half. However, a duo of Illinois and Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) managed to keep St. Cloud State within six of Minnesota-Duluth's lead. Theisen, along with Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) and Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) scored 13 points for the Huskies in the final 10 minutes of the first half, meaning the team trailed just 36-32 at the half.

A four-point deficit was certainly something St. Cloud State could overcome in the second half, as it has done so many times this season. It was, in fact, something the Huskies looked like they were going to do again. Thanks to Smith and Davis, St. Cloud State scored seven consecutive points to take its first lead since the early seconds of the first half at 39-38. However, poor shot selection and turnovers resulting in six consecutive points for Minnesota-Duluth allowed to Bulldogs to regain the lead at 44-39 with 14:51 remaining in the game.

The Huskies certainly weren't out of the game, as they cut the lead to three points with 11:34 remaining in regulation. Dunks by Smith and Jace Kitchen (Dekalb, Ill. / Dekalb) helped St. Cloud State pull within three of Minnesota-Duluth at 47-44. Once again, poor shot selection, turnovers and fouls derailed the Huskies momentum, as the Bulldogs jumped ahead 50-44 due to costly mistakes.

Despite St. Cloud State's best attempts, the team's offense was never able to catch up to Minnesota-Duluth in the final minutes of the game. For every basket the Huskies made, the Bulldogs seemed to have an answer, continuously extending their lead back to six or seven points. Even when Theisen seemed to finally give St. Cloud State a much needed basket, Minnesota-Duluth answered with a layup and-one, extending the lead back to 57-50 with 7:45 remaining in regulation.

The Huskies continued to whittle away at the Bulldogs lead but were never able to get closer than seven points in the final two minutes of regulation. Even Davis was uncharacteristically quiet scoring wise. After scoring 11 points in the first half, the senior was held to just nine in the second, scoring his 22^nd point at 1:11 to cut the Bulldog lead to 69-60. However, other than Davis, St. Cloud State couldn't put together much offense, as the team fell to Minnesota-Duluth for a second time this season by a final score of 75-60.

Davis recorded his second consecutive 20+ point performance, as he scored 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double this season. Smith and Theisen both tallied 13 points in the loss, while Smith led the team with 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.

With the loss, the Huskies record falls to 9-3 and they are now 4-2 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will return to action on Friday, January 4, when the team takes on the University of Minnesota-Crookston at 7:30 p.m. in Crookston, Minnesota.