Huskies advance with 91-72 win over Upper Iowa

Wednesday, February 27

St. Cloud, Minn.

7:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

22-7, 16-6NSIC

Upper Iowa University

7-22, 4-18NSIC

Upper Iowa

St. Cloud State

Sean Smith flies in for a dunk in the second half of Wednesday night's game against Upper Iowa.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

2/27/2019 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team is once again headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This time, rather than take on Augustana University at the Sioux Falls Arena in regular season action, the Huskies are going to take on Wayne State College in the second round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) / Stanford Health Tournament. Yes, thanks to its 91-72 win over Upper Iowa University Wednesday evening, St. Cloud State advances to the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament for the second straight year and will take on Wayne State at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 3.

The Huskies playoff win over the Peacocks is the first in program history, as the team was 0-3 in their last three meetings in the NSIC/Stanford Health Classic. St. Cloud State certainly made it a memorable first playoff with, as it dominated Upper Iowa both on the boards and in shooting. In the game, the Huskies tallied 33 total rebounds compared to the Peacocks 27 and out shot the visitors .578 to .466. In other words, it was total domination for the Huskies, who led 47-34 at the midway point thanks, in large part, to double-digit performances from Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) and Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy). Davis led the team with 17 points in the opening half of the game, while Smith added 10 of his own and was halfway to a double-double with four rebounds in the first half as well.

In the second half, St. Cloud State used a 17-4 run to take a 66-44 lead with 12:06 remaining in regulation. The Peacocks, though, were not about to go away quietly, as Upper Iowa whittled the lead to 66-55 with 9:34 remaining in regulation. The damage, though, had already been done by the Huskies, as Smith and Davis gave the team a 16-point advantage and helped them take a 76-60 lead with under seven remaining in the ball game. From that point on, the Peacocks would never get within 11 of St. Cloud State's lead, as the Huskies closed the game with yet another scoring run to clinch the 91-72 victory in their final home game of the 2018-19 season.

Davis ended the game as the team's leading scorer and rebounder, as he scored 31 points and pulled in nine rebounds in the victory. Smith ended the game with 27 points and five rebounds, while Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) also scored in thr double-digits with 10 points of his own.

Every senior scored or recorded at least one stat in the win over Upper Iowa Wednesday evening to close out their careers at Halenbeck Hall in style. Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) broke the school record for single-season three pointers made with 109 and tied the school record for career games played at 124. Adam Heede-Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark / Stenhus Gymnasium) scored three points in the victory, while Jace Kitchen (Deklab, Ill. / Dekalb) added six. Finally, Ryan Wynn (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook) came up with an offensive rebound in the closing seconds to clinch the 19-point win for St. Cloud State.

With the win, the Huskies overall record improves to 22-7 and they advance to the quarterfinal round of the NSIC/Stanford Health Basketball Tournament. St. Cloud State will take on Wayne State in the second round at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 3 in Sioux Falls, S.D.