St. Cloud State Men's Basketball Struggle in Second Half at SMSU

Friday, January 20

Marshall, Minn.

5:30 PM

St. Cloud State

7-11,4-9NSIC

Southwest Minnesota State

12-6,8-5NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Southwest Minn. St.

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

St. Cloud State Men's Basketball Struggle in Second Half at SMSU

1/20/2023 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Huskies fall 69-58 in slow second half

MARSHALL, Minn. - The St. Cloud State men's basketball team fought hard against Southwest Minnesota State but fell just short to the Mustangs Friday even at the R/A Facility in Marshall, MN. The Huskies brough the game back within four points with 34 seconds left but in the end were unable to hold off the Mustangs to fall 69-58.

GAME SUMMARY
The Huskies ended the half with the game tied at 33 each despite St. Cloud holding the lead for the majority of the first half. The Huskies would hit the first points of the game 30 seconds in with a three-pointer by Jalen Griffin. The game would go back and forth for the next few minutes until Griffin tied the game at 13 with a second chance jump-shot. Later, St. Cloud would go up by 10 after a lay-up in the paint by Kevin Cook who made the score 25-15 at the 8:05 mark. SCSU wouldn't hit a basket for the next three minutes as SMSU cut the Huskies lead to three. With 1:40 left of the first, Luke Taylor hit a shot just outside the paint for a five-point lead. Southwest would hit a three-pointer with less than a minute left to bring it within two. A foul by Andre Renta with three seconds left sent SMSU to the line where they hit both free throws to close out the half at 33 a piece.

Back on the court for the second, Ryan Bagley hit a three-pointer for the Huskies to go up by three just a minute in. SMSU would respond with a three-pointer of their own 20 seconds later. About 30 more seconds later, Bagley would hit another basket from behind the arc for the Huskies to go up 39-36 with 18:33 left. The Mustangs would then take the lead back and go up 50-46 off a pair of free throws at the 12:40 mark. The Huskies would cut the lead to one with 8:50 left. SMSU would then go on a 6-0 scoring run to go up by seven to bring the score to 58-51 with 4:50 left in the game. With 34 seconds of regulation left, the Huskies brought it to a four-point game with a Matthew Willert lay-up in the paint. From there, the Huskies were unable to get a solid play on offense to turn the game back in their favor and were forced to foul the Mustang sending them to the line. The Huskies struggled offensively in the second as they only shot a .233 from the field going 7-30 and 4-18 from behind the arc. St. Cloud's hard-fought effort was not enough as they fell 69-58 to SMSU.

TOP HUSKIES

Luke Taylor led the evening with 15 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and one assist
Ryan Bagley closed with nine points, five steals, four rebounds, and three assists
Jalen Griffin knocked down nine points

UP NEXT
The Huskies are looking to bounce against Sioux Falls tomorrow, Jan. 21. The game is set for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off.

Single game tickets for the season are now on sale at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State men's basketball, stay tuned on scsuhuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.