Huskies take down No. 18 Northern State 65-62

Saturday, February 16

Aberdeen, SD

6 p.m.

St. Cloud State

19-7, 14-6NSIC

Northern State University

20-6, 16-4NSIC

St. Cloud State

Northern State

Thanks to his five blocks Saturday night, Sean Smith became the first player in program history to tally 100 blocks in a single-season at St. Cloud State.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

2/16/2019 8:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team had one goal entering Saturday evening's game against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) leader Northern State University: win.

Safe to say, mission accomplished.

In a game that occasionally looked more like Rocky vs. Apollo Creed, St. Cloud State prevailed for arguably its biggest win of the season, as the team took down No. 18 Northern State on the road 65-62.

The Huskies wasted no time jumping out to a 10 point lead over the Wolves but trailed 34-31 entering the locker room at half time. St. Cloud State was led scoring wise by Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) who scored 12 points for the Huskies in the opening 20 minutes of action, bringing his career total to over 2400 points. Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) and Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) led the way on the boards for St. Cloud State, as the two Spaniards pulled in a combined 13 boards in the first half, led by Onwuka's team-leading seven.

St. Cloud State was still forced to play catch up for most of the second half, as Northern State seemed to have an answer for everything the Huskies put through the hoop. Twice, Smith and Davis were able to cut the lead to one, but both times the Wolves came up with baskets and held a 40-37 lead at the first media time out of the half. The Huskies defense, though, kept them in the game, as Smith and Onwuka came up with multiple blocks in the opening seven minutes of play to it a single possession advantage for Northern State.

Davis twice managed to tie the game for St. Cloud State, first at 41-41 and later at 49-49. The Wolves, though, continued to jump ahead time and time again, though they never led by more than three points in the second. Eventually, St. Cloud State's persistence offensively paid off, especially in the final five minutes. With 3:33 remaining in regulation, Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) set the tone for the final three minutes with a slam dunk and cut the Wolves lead to 59-58.

From there, it was entirely Huskies both offensively and defensively, for the remainder of the game. Though Northern State managed to regain a two point advantage, the lead was brief, as Onwuka nabbed the definitive 62-61 lead for St. Cloud State by making the team's lone three of the night. After that, the defense took over. After going up 64-62, Smith came up with a huge steal on Northern State's next offensive possession, allowing Davis to put the Huskies ahead 65-62 at the free throw line.

The game was truly cemented, though, a minute later, when Onwuka and Davis prevented the Wolves from inbounding the ball with .7 seconds on the clock. As the horn sounded, Onwuka threw the game ball sky high in the air, as St. Cloud State celebrated its 65-62 win.

Davis was the team's top scorer in the game, as he tallied 26 points to go along with eight rebounds for the Huskies. Smith, though, may have ended the game with the most impressive stat line, as he tallied 14 points with 10 rebounds, five blocks and two steals. His fifth block of the game counted as the 100th he's recorded this season, making him the first player in program history with 100 blocks in a single-season. Onwuka also impressed with 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high five blocks.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 19-7 and the team is 14-6 in NSIC play. The Huskies will conclude the regular season next weekend, when they host Bemidji State University and Minnesota-Crookston Friday and Saturday.