Men's basketball comes up short in 85-80 loss at Mary

Saturday, January 11

Bismarck, ND

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

9-7,6-4NSIC

University of Mary

8-8,3-7NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Mary

Trevon Marshall scored 30+ points for the third straight game, recording a career-high 36 points in the loss.

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

1/11/2020 7:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BISMARCK, N.D. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team entered Saturday's game at the University of Mary looking for its second Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) sweep of the season. Unfortunately, the Huskies second half rally came up short, as they fell to the University of Mary Marauders by a final score of 85-80.

St. Cloud State put up 30 first half points and was led once again by Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township). The senior guard accounted for over half of the Huskies offense in the first half in Bismarck, North Dakota, as he scored 17 of the team's 30 first half points. No other Husky scored in double-digits and no one recorded more than two rebounds, allowing the Marauders to hold a 39-30 lead after the first 20 minutes of play.

It was the second half when St. Cloud State's offense came to life, as the team rallied to put up 50 points on Mary and cut the lead down to five points in the closing minutes. Seniors Marshall and Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) along with first year Anthony Roberts (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) led the scoring barrage for the Huskies, as they combined to score 36 of the team's 50 second half points. Marshall again led the way with 19, as he went 6-11 from the floor in the second half, with a 1-2 mark from three-point range and a 6-8 mark from the charity stripe.

Still, things looked dire for St. Cloud State late in the half, as the team trailed by as many as 17 points with 12 minutes remaining. The Huskies, though, managed to get within 10 with 10 minutes left on the clock, as Onwuka and Marshall scored a combined seven points in a one minute time span to cut the Marauders lead to 60-50. From there, St. Cloud State continued to whittle, eventually pulling within nine of Mary's lead with 3:21 remaining in regulation.

It looked like the Huskies would never get closer than that, as they were never able to get within seven of the Marauders lead in the closing minutes. However, with 55 seconds, it seemed like St. Cloud State would pull off an incredible comeback, as Jake Mussman (St. Cloud, Minn. / Tech) hit a huge three-pointer to cut the lead to six at 81-75. The Huskies then pulled within four at 82-78, but that was the closest they would come, as Mary hit two free throws down the stretch to clinch the win at 85-80.

Marshall had another career day Saturday afternoon, as he scored a career high 36 points in the loss. For the weekend, the senior averaged an impressive 35 points in two NSIC games while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Roberts and Onwuka both closed the game in double-digits for points, as Roberts tallied 10 and Onwuka recorded 11.

After the weekend, St. Cloud State's record now stands at 9-7 and the team is 6-4 in NSIC play. The Huskies will return to action on Friday, January 17, as they host Concordia-St. Paul at 7:30 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.