Huskies comeback denied in 77-73 loss to NSU

Friday, January 25

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

13-6, 8-5NSIC

Northern State University

15-4, 11-2NSIC

Northern St.

St. Cloud State

Brindley Thesien goes up for a layup in the second half against Northern State.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

1/25/2019 9:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team dropped its contest to Northern State University 77-73 in Halenbeck Hall Friday evening. Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) was the team's leading scorer, as he dropped 22 points against Northern State and added a team-leading seven rebounds.

It was a tail of two halves for the Huskies, who trailed 44-27 at the half, their largest halftime deficit of the season. In the 20 minutes of play, Jace Kitchen (Dekalb, Ill. / Dekalb) and Davis were the team's leading scorers, as they tallied seven and nine points in the first half respectively.

A second half comeback was definitely in the works for St. Cloud State, as the team chipped away at the Wolves seemingly large lead. Seniors Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) and Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) kick started the Huskies big second half with back-to-back dunks before an 10-2 run sufficiently cut Northern State's lead to 69-59 with exactly 6:35 remaining in the game.

The final five minutes proved to be the most exciting. After St. Cloud State's run, the Wolves jumped back ahead by 14 points before Davis and Theisen got the Huskies within nine at 73-64. Smith and fellow Spaniard Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Howard College) then went to work, scoring six of St. Cloud State's nine points in the final two minutes to pull within two of Northern State at 75-73 with exactly one minute remaining in regulation.

The Wolves, though, denied the Huskies hopes at a comeback, as they sunk two free throws in the final 13 seconds to clinch the 77-73 win.

St. Cloud State outscored Northern State 46-33 in the second half of play thanks to .543 percent shooting from the floor in the final 20 minutes of play. The Huskies also forced eight turnovers in the second half and pulled in 19 boards compared to the Wolves 15.

With the loss, St. Cloud State's overall record falls to 13-6 and the team is now 8-5 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play. The Huskies look to rebound with a win over Minnesota State-Moorhead on Saturday when they host the Dragons at 5:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.