Huskies close trip with 76-69 victory over Minot State

Saturday, December 8

Minot, ND

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

7-2, 2-1NSIC

Minot State University

5-7, 0-3NSIC

St. Cloud State

Minot State

Diamond Onwuka smiles setting up a play in the first half of the Huskies game at Minot State.

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

12/8/2018 7:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

MINOT, N.D. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team left the great state of Minnesota on Thursday with one thing in mind: leave North Dakota on Saturday with two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSIC) wins under its belt.

Mission accomplished.

After grinding out a 76-64 victory over the University of Mary on Friday, the Huskies clinched a nearly identical win over the Minot State University Beavers on Saturday. Thanks to clutch scoring and big-time defensive stops, St. Cloud State left Minot, North Dakota with its second NSIC win of the season, defeating Minot State 76-64.

The Huskies struggled shooting wise in the opening two minutes but quickly solved any issues they were having. In fact, St. Cloud State was shooting .471 percent at the second media time out, while its defense held the Beavers to just .385 percent from the floor to cruise ahead to a 19-11 lead. However, as in the past, the Huskies struggled to distance themselves from their opponent, as strong inside play allowed Minot State to tie the game at 23-23.

Unfortunately, St. Cloud State's scoring woes came back in the late minutes of the first half, as the Beavers stormed ahead to take a 29-24 lead with three minutes remaining. In fact, Minot State did not allow Huskies leading scorer Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) to take a shot until the closing minute of the first half after he scored nine in the opening 10 minutes. However, thanks to Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) and Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy), St. Cloud State did manage to close the gap and trailed 31-29 at the end of the half.

The Huskies wasted no time tying the game in the second half, as Davis hit a jumper with the shot clock winding down to tie the game at 31-31. However, for every shot St. Cloud State made, the Beavers seemed to have an answer, as they only continued to extend their lead on back-to-back baskets from St. Michael, Minnesota native Trevor Rothstein. However, with their shooters, the Huskies weren't out for the count, as they eventually held a 44-40 lead at the first media timeout.

Like past NSIC games, however, St. Cloud State struggled to pull away from its opponent, as Minot State once again slowly but surely chipped away at the Huskies lead. In fact, the Beavers managed to tie the game at 44-44 before another student-athlete came up big for St. Cloud State. This time, it was junior transfer Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Howard College), who scored a career-high 13 points before the eight minute mark to help the Huskies pull ahead 57-53 with 7:33 remaining in regulation.

Again, St. Cloud State could not close out the game with a big scoring run, and Minot State was again able to pull within two at 61-59 with 3:52 remaining in regulation. In fact, the Beavers even took a lead of their own, holding a 66-65 lead with 2:11 remaining in regulation. However, it was the Huskies weakness that secured their victory, as Davis and Onwuka scored four points on free throws to give St. Cloud State a 69-66 lead it would never relinquish. Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston) sunk two free throws before Davis capped off the win with a signature steal and dunk, sealing the 76-69 victory over Minot State.

Davis once again had a monster game for the Huskies, tallying his fourth straight game with 21+ points, closing out the night with a season-high 28 points and 10 rebounds. Davis also tallied four assists and two steals in the victory, leading the team in both categories.

Onwuka and Theisen also scored in double-digits for St. Cloud State, as Onwuka finished the game with a career-high 15 points while Theisen added 13. Smith recorded his fourth straight game with 5+ blocks, concluding the game with five.

With the victory, the Huskies overall record improves to 7-2 and they are now 2-1 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will return to the court on Friday, December 14 when it hosts Southwest Minnesota State University at 7:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.