Men's basketball halts skid with 79-62 win over Upper Iowa

Friday, January 31

Fayette, IA

7:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

11-10,8-7NSIC

Upper Iowa University

13-8,10-5NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Upper Iowa

Ilya Tyrtyshnik went off for 17 points against Upper Iowa, nine of which were scored on three-pointers.

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

1/31/2020 11:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FAYETTE, IOWA – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team hit a bit of a snag the last two weeks. The Huskies entered Friday evening's game at Upper Iowa University on a three-game losing skid, their longest of the season, and in desperate need of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) win over the Peacocks. St. Cloud State earned that win, as four Huskies scored in double-digits to help the team to a 79-62 win over the Peacocks.

St. Cloud State snapped its three-game losing streak in run-away fashion, jumping out to a 40-34 lead after the opening 20 minutes of play. As usual, Trevon Marshall (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) and Anthony Marshall (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) were untouchable in the opening half of play, as they scored 11 and 10 points for the Huskies respectively. The team itself was also lights out shooting, as St. Cloud State put together a .500 shooting percentage in the opening half, going 16-32 from the floor with a 5-9 mark from three-point range.

In addition to their outstanding offensive performance, the Huskies defense was strong as ever, holding Upper Iowa to a .371 field goal percentage in the first half while racking up four blocks on the defensive side of the ball. Roberts accounted for two of those four blocks, while Diamond Onwuka (Barcelona, Spain / Canarias Basketball Academy) and Caleb Donaldson (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington) accounted for the other two.

The start of the second half was similar to the first, as St. Cloud State continued to extend its lead over the Peacocks to double-digit points. In fact, the Huskies led by as many as 12 points in the opening three minutes of the second, as Ilya Tyrtyshnik (Kyiv, Ukraine / Kyiv Specialized School #49) hit a quick three to put St. Cloud State up 46-34 with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Though Upper Iowa would whittle the lead down to six by 15:36, the home team could never quite catch St. Cloud State, as the visitors made shot after shot to maintain a seven or nine point advantage.

With seven minutes remaining, the Huskies finally seemed to hit their stride, taking a 65-53 lead with a layup from Onwuka before running away with the game in the final minutes. Layups by Marshall and Roberts gave St. Cloud State its largest lead of 20 points, while Oliver Ehrnvall (Uppsala, Sweden / Manhattan) sealed the 79-62 win with a last-second layup in the paint.

Roberts scored 20+ points for the fourth time in January, ending the game with a team and game-leading 20 points on 9-16 shooting. His stat line was rounded out by a team-leading nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks, marking one of his best games of the 2019-20 season. Joining Roberts in the high-scoring department were Marshall and Tyrtyshnik, who closed the game with 18 and 17 point respectively, while Ehrnvall finished the game with 10 points. Onwuka tallied nine defensive rebounds to help the Huskies finish with 36 total in the game.

With the win, St. Cloud State's overall record improves to 11-10 and the team is now 8-7 in NSIC play. The Huskies will look to open February with a Saturday victory, as they take on Winona State University at 5:30 p.m. in Winona, Minnesota.