St. Cloud State
1-0,0-0NSIC
Ouachita Baptist University
0-1,0-0GAC
Huskies open season with 84-71 win over Ouachita
11/12/2021 10:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
St. Cloud State shoots .467 from the floor, including a .560 clip in the second half
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The St. Cloud State University men's basketball team opened the 2021-22 season with an 84-71 win over Ouachita Baptist University at the GAC/NSIC Crossover in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Anthony Roberts (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park) led the team in scoring with 22 points, while Josh Tomasi (Melbourne, Australia / Box Hill) led the Huskies with eight rebounds.
GAME SUMMARY
St. Cloud State walked into the locker room at halftime with a 39-29 lead thanks to the hot hand of Matthew Willert (Buffalo, Minn. / Buffalo). The sophomore sharp shooter scored a team-leading 14 points for the Huskies, while Tomasi pulled in five rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Additionally, St. Cloud State's defense held Ouachita Baptist to .143 shooting from the beyond the arc and did not commit a single shooting foul in the first half of the game.
Ouachita Baptist attempted to come back in the second half, but Roberts dominated both the floor and the scoresheet. When the Tigers took a 49-48 lead at 11:47, it was the junior guard who regained the advantage for the Huskies, as he scored 21 of his team-leading 22 points in the second half. Ryan Bagley (Pocatello, Idaho / Burley) and Caleb Donaldson (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington) also got going offensively, as they scored 15 and 12 points respectively, leading St. Cloud State to the 84-71 victory.
TOP HUSKIES
- Roberts opened the season with an impressive 22 point performance thanks to 9-14 shooting from the floor. The junior also nabbed five rebounds with two steals and a block.
- In addition to Roberts, three other Huskies scored in double-digits: Bagley, Donaldson and Willert. The trio scored 15, 14 and 12 points respectively and combined for 11 rebounds and seven assists.
- Joe Mutimer (Mebourne, Australia / Blackburn South) made the first start of his collegiate career Friday evening, charting nine points on 2-3 shooting, including a 5-6 mark from the free throw line, with a team-leading six assists.
STRONG OPENING NUMBER
With the win, St. Cloud State snaps a two-game losing streak in season openers. In fact, the Huskies are 4-2 in their last six season-opening games, but are just .500 against teams from the Great American Conference (GAC). St. Cloud State also avenged its 2019-20 season opening loss to Ouachita Baptist, in which the Huskies fell to the Tigers in the opening round of the GAC Conference Challenge by a final score of 56-51.
NEW FACES
Just three student-athletes remain from the 2019-20 Huskies team that posted a 14-15 overall record with an 11-11 mark in NSIC play: Dan Giestler, Caleb Donaldson and Anthony Roberts. Every other member of St. Cloud State's current roster was either in high school or playing at another college/university when the Huskies fell to both Ouachita Baptist and Harding to open the 2019-20 season. There is one other familiar face from that team, however. Current assistant coach Trevon Marshall was a senior star for St. Cloud State that season, leading the team in points, points per game and minutes from start to finish.
LONG LIVE KING ANTHONY
Roberts has been outstanding in season openers since he joined the Huskies in 2019-20. The current junior has scored at least 10 points in each of the three contests, with Friday's 22 point total being the highest of his career in the first game of a season. Roberts scored 14 points in a season-opening loss to Upper Iowa in 2020-21 and tallied 10 in his first collegiate start against Ouachita Baptist back in 2019-20.
UP NEXT
St. Cloud State will face Harding on day two of the GAC/NSIC Crossover Tournament. Tip off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. CT in Halenbeck Hall.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Men's Basketball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
