Men’s Basketball Advances To Semifinals of the NCAA Central Regional With 81-68 victory over Southern Nazarene

Saturday, March 10

Maryville, Missouri

12 p.m.

St. Cloud State

24-8

Southern Nazarene University

27-3

St. Cloud State

Southern Nazarene

Gage Davis

Photo by: Bria Creeden

Men’s Basketball Advances To Semifinals of the NCAA Central Regional With 81-68 victory over Southern Nazarene

3/10/2018 3:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Maryville, Missouri – Junior Gage Davis scored 27 points, including 16 points in the second half, to help rally the St. Cloud State men's basketball team (24-8) to a thrilling 81-68 victory over Southern Nazarene (27-3) on Saturday, March 10, at Bearcat Arena on the campus of Northwest Missouri State in the opening game of the NCAA DII Men's Basketball Tournament – Central Regional.

Davis shot an efficient 6-for-12 from the field and 14-for-16 from the line in scoring his 27 points. He also had seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Senior Jon Averkamp picked up 19 points, two rebounds and a steal. Junior Brindley Theisen recorded 11 points and three rebounds. Junior Sean Smith tallied 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Senior Andy Foley totaled eight points and two steals off the bench. Sophomore Trevon Marshall picked up six points and two assists.

Southern Nazarene was led by 22 points from Jhonathan Dunn. Micah Speight picked up 16 points, eight rebounds, three steals and eight assists. Noah Starkey had 14 points and five rebounds for the Crimson Storm.

St. Cloud State shot 52.1 percent from the field in the game (25-for-48), 23.1 percent from three-point range (3-for-13) and 77.8 percent from the free throw line (28-for-36). The Huskies totaled 29 rebounds, 13 assists, four blocks and five steals in the game. SNU was limited to 43.1 percent shooting from the field (25-for-58). The team also shot 27.3 percent from three-point range (3-for-11) and 83.3 percent from the free throw line (15-for-18). Southern Nazarene had 36 rebounds, nine assists, five steals and three blocks.

St. Cloud State, who at one point trailed by 10 points, fought back to make it a two-point game at the half, 40-38. The team then opened the second half on a 17-2 rally to take a 55-42 lead on a made layup from Marshall with 14:01 remaining. The Crimson Storm rallied to make it a 65-60 score after a good three from Speight with 7:27 remaining. The Huskies quickly went on a 7-1 rally to get the lead back into double digits, 72-61, on a made free throw from Davis. The lead would hover between nine and 14 points the rest of the game in what was an eventual 81-68 victory for SCSU.

St. Cloud State men's basketball team advances to the semifinals of the NCAA DII Central Region and plays the winner of Northern State and Washburn University at 5 p.m. on March 11.

Notes:
- The program has won 21 of the last 27 games.
- Gage Davis, with 27 points against Southern Nazarene, has now scored in double figures in 23 of the 24 games that he has played in this season.
- The team is 19-5 when Davis plays this year.
- Davis has scored 20 or more points in nine games and 25 or more points in seven contests this season.
- He had led the team in scoring in 11 contests this season.
- Jon Averkamp's 19 points was the 27th time in 32 games that he has scored in double figures this season.
- Sean Smith's 10 points was his 21st game in double figures this season.
- Smith led the team in rebounding with nine boards for the 17th time this season.
- His two blocks was his 23rd game this season in double figures in blocks.
- Brindley Theisen's 11 points was his 22nd game this season in double figures.
- The program's 52.1 percent shooting from the field is the 17th game above 50 percent in the last 23 contest
- The team's 24 wins on the campaign is the most since the 2009-10 season when that program picked up 29 games.
- The program has now won at least an NCAA tournament game in 10 of the program's 14 all-time appearances.
- The Huskies improve to 13-15 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests.
- The win was the first over Southern Nazarene in the first-ever game between the two schools.
- The program is 23-1 this season when holding a lead in assists.