Marshall sends Bulldogs to pound in final game of the decade

Saturday, December 21

St. Cloud, Minn.

4 p.m.

St. Cloud State

7-5,4-2NSIC

University of Minnesota Duluth

9-3,4-2NSIC

Minn. Duluth

St. Cloud St.

Trevon Marshall flexes after a dunk in the Huskies 76-65 win over Minnesota-Duluth.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

Marshall sends Bulldogs to pound in final game of the decade

12/21/2019 6:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The saying goes: when you're hot, you're hot. And when you're not, well, you're not.

The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team and senior Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston) were definitely hot Saturday afternoon.

In their final game of 2019, the Huskies hosted Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) rival the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The game was one of the most highly anticipated of the season, as St. Cloud State was looking to avenge its early season loss to the Bulldogs. The Huskies did just that, as they sent Minnesota-Duluth packing thanks to a 76-65 in Halenbeck Hall.

Anthony Roberts (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) set the tone early for St. Cloud State with a big dunk, showing that this wasn't going to be like the first meeting back on December 2. In fact, though the Bulldogs held an 11-8 lead at the first media timeout, the Huskies hung around and never trailed by more than five in the initial half. St. Cloud State's stingy defensive play was especially apparent in the final 10 minutes of the first half, as the Huskies used an 11-0 run to take a 32-25 lead over Minnesota-Duluth with 3:00 remaining on the clock.

St. Cloud State walked into the locker room holding a 38-29 lead over the Bulldogs, curtesy of Roberts buzzer beater three with .6 remaining on the clock. He finished the half with 10 points, but it was fellow first year Caleb Donaldson (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington) who really shined in the opening 20 minutes, as he led the way with a team and game high 11 points in the opening half.

The Huskies defense was also stellar in the first half, as they held Minnesota-Duluth's leading scorers Brandon Myer and Alex Illikainen to under 10 points combined in the first 20 minutes of play. However, it seemed like St. Cloud State's luck ran out in the opening two minutes of the second half, as the Bulldogs went on a 7-2 run to cut the Huskies lead to 40-36.

That moment was when St. Cloud State found itself again, as the team conjured a run of its own to jump ahead 51-38 with 13:00 remaining in regulation. Marshall came to life in the second half, as he scored 21 of his team and game-leading 25 points in the final 20 minutes of play, including 11 in a three-minute time span. However, Marshall's performance almost wasn't enough in the long run, as the Bulldogs three-point scoring barrage helped them cut the lead to 60-52 with under 10 minutes left in regulation.

St. Cloud State again was able to extend its lead back to 12 points but the Bulldogs just kept hanging on, once again cutting the lead to 10 at 68-58 with 2:45 remaining in regulation. Still, the Huskies seemed to stay one step ahead of Minnesota-Duluth, not allowing the Bulldogs to come within 10 points of the lead. However, in the final two minutes, Minnesota-Duluth made things interesting, as costly turnovers by St. Cloud State in the Bulldogs zone allowed the visitors to cut the lead to 72-63.

That was the closest Minnesota-Duluth would come to catching the Huskies, as Ilya Tyrtyshnik (Kyiv, Ukraine / Kyiv Specialization School #49) sunk a three and two free throws in the closing seconds to clinch the 76-65 lead for St. Cloud State.

Marshall was the team's leading scorer, as he scored 25 points on 11-20 shooting from the floor. Donaldson added 16 points and a team-leading eight rebounds, while Roberts was the final student-athlete to score in double-digits with 15 points on 5-9 shooting.

The Huskies defense was really the star of the show, as they held the Bulldogs top scorers to a combined 16 points, and Minnesota-Duluth's shooting to well under .500 from the floor. St. Cloud State also forced 11 Bulldog turnovers and held the visitors to just 26 rebounds in the entire 40 minutes of play.

With the win, the Huskies overall record improves to 7-5 and the team is now 4-2 in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will enjoy the holiday break before returning to host Minnesota-Crookston on Friday, January 3. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Halenbeck Hall.