Huskies come up short in 92-91 loss to Augustana

Saturday, February 9

Sioux Falls, SD

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

17-7 (12-6NSIC)

Augustana University (SD)

14-10 (10-8NSIC

St. Cloud State

Augustana (S.D.)

Photo by: Jurgens Photography

2/9/2019 7:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Wins on the road are never easy to come by. The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team knows that better than anyone else in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). St. Cloud State was unable to leave Sioux Falls, South Dakota with another road "W" in its record, as the team fell to Augustana University 92-91 Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies trailed 43-42 after the first half, despite 15 points from Gage Davis (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook). St. Cloud State's defense could not stop Augustana's Michael Schaefer and Matt Cartwright. The two Vikings scored a combined 35 points in the opening 20 minutes of play, propelling Augustana to its 43-42 halftime lead.

The Huskies were able to gain a four point lead early in the second half, as Brindley Theisen (St. Cloud, Minn. / St. Cloud Cathedral) and Davis connected several times to give the Huskies a 55-51 lead. However, the Vikings simply would not go away, as they eventually tied it 57-57 on free throws by Schaefer. From that point on, the two teams would trade baskets and leads, until St. Cloud State turned up the fire power around the 10 minute mark. Fueled by Diamond Onwuka's (Barcelona, Spain / Howard College) stingy defense and Theisen's three-point stroke, the Huskies nabbed a 70-63 lead over Augustana with 9:49 remaining in regulation.

That lead would nearly prove not to be enough, as the Vikings again whittled it sown to 72-71 with just under 10 minutes left in regulation. Jace Kitchen (Dekalb, Ill. / Dekalb) again came up big for St. Cloud State, as he hit a three from the left corner to ignite the Huskies 10-2 scoring run, which regained a 82-73 lead for St. Cloud State.

That lead again would nearly prove not to be enough, as Augustana then rattled off eight straight points to cut it down to 82-80 and eventually tie it at 82-82 with 2:50 remaining in regulation. From there, the Vikings took an 85-82 lead and continued to hold the three-point advantage with 14 seconds remaining in the game. Though Davis and Adam Heede-Andersen (Copenhagen, Denmark / Stenhus Gymnasium) came up with some last second heroics, it wasn't enough, as St. Cloud State fell 92-91.

Davis fouled out of the game with 31 points, his third consecutive game with at least 30 points in a single game. Theisen ended the game with 22, while Kitchen and Onwuka both tallied 11.

After breaking the school record in career blocks Friday, Sean Smith (Seville, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) broke his own school record for single-season blocks, previously set at 88. Currently, Smith is averaging well over three blocks per game and leads the nation in both total blocks (89) and blocks per game.

With the loss, the Huskies overall record is now 17-7, and they have a 12-6 mark in NSIC play. St. Cloud State will return to action on Friday, February 15, when the team travels to take on Minnesota State-Moorhead at 7:30 p.m.