Tuesday, December 12
Bismarck, N.D.
4:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
at
UMary
Photo by: Dylan De Baldo
St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Travels to UMary for Tuesday Tilt
12/11/2023 4:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Huskies look to get back into win column
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (4-4 overall, 1-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) travels to Bismarck, N.D. to face UMary (5-4, 1-3 NSIC) in a midweek NSIC clash on Tuesday (Dec. 12). Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT at the McDowell Activity Center.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
The game will be streamed live for free on the NSIC Network. Live stats will be provided by UMary. Links to each coverage option can be found on the St. Cloud State Men's Basketball schedule page.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, St. Cloud State hit the road for a pair of conference games, battling Northern State and MSU Moorhead. Friday's game against Northern State was a tightly contested, back and forth game where St. Cloud held a lead as big as seven points in the first half. A three-pointer by senior Joe Mutimer (Melbourne, Australia) created that seven-point lead, but Northern responded with a 10-2 run taking a one-point lead halfway through the first half. A thunderous dunk by graduate student Luke Taylor (Germantown, Wis) started a 6-0 run for the Huskies. The Wolves quickly responded with back-to-back threes by Jacksen Moni and as a team, knocked down a three in four straight scoring possessions. Northern ended the half on a 16-6 run and went into halftime with a six-point lead. NSU shot a blistering 55% from beyond the arc in the first half and generated 11 three-point makes.
St. Cloud State trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half but kept the game close enough to not get out of hand. Senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) was fouled on a three-point attempt with 8:47 left in the game as the Huskies began their comeback attempt. Willert calmly made all three free throws, nailed a jumper in the paint, blocked a jump shot by Moni, and then drilled a three-pointer on the ensuing fastbreak to bring the Huskies within five. The Huskies continued to battle as the lead was cut down to four points off a dunk by Taylor and then three points off a deep three by Willert, but Northern iced the game by making nine of their 11 free throws attempts in the final six minutes of the game to earn an 83-77 victory. Taylor led the Huskies with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Off the bench, Matt Willert scored a season-high 20 points, cashed three three-pointers, and grabbed four rebounds.
Saturday's game against MSU Moorhead was tightly contested throughout the entire game. St. Cloud State trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half but battled against one of the top teams in Division II. Despite the 11-point deficit, the Huskies finished the half on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to six going into the break. Freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee, Wis) scored five of his eight points in the final 79 seconds, driving in for a layup and drilling a three-pointer on the ensuing possession.
SCSU came out of halftime with an 8-2 run to knot the game at 34 points. The rest of the game went back and forth, and the Huskies briefly pulled away with a 9-2 run that was capped off by a driving layup that Joe Mutimer kissed off the glass. St. Cloud held a seven-point lead, but the Dragons made a 6-0 run with 4:46 left in the game. Mutimer slithered into the paint again for a layup which gave the Huskies a three-point lead. Luke Taylor pined a Jacob Beeninga layup attempt against the glass for a monster block as the Huskies started to see the finish line. Moorhead made two free throws on their next possession to cut the Huskies lead down to one-point. St. Cloud State called a timeout with 2:48 left in the game. Matt Willert drained a three-pointer out of the timeout to give the Huskies a four-point lead. That three-pointer by Willter marked the beginning of the end for St. Cloud State, as the Dragons ended the game on a 5-0 run to break the hearts of the Huskies. Jamir Price made two free throws with 15 seconds remaining and Luke Taylor missed a baseline jumper that would have won the game for St. Cloud. The Huskies dropped their third straight game in a 64-65 heartbreaker. Mutimer scored a game-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Matt Willert was again the spark plug off the bench for SCSU, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting with three made three-pointers. Taylor recorded his third career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.
Highlights from the MSU Moorhead game can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
SERIES HISTORY
St. Cloud and the UMary have faced off 31 times since their inaugural matchup in the 2006-2007 season. The Huskies have captured 18 victories and have fell 13 times. The team's split last year's matchups. The Huskies dropped the first meeting against the Marauders 91-77. The Huskies offense could not keep up with UMary who shot 59.6% from the field to St. Cloud's 43.1%. UMary also shot an efficient 50% from behind the arc. Matt Willert led the Huskies in scoring with 19 points and he splashed four three-pointers and grabbed three rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Tony Dahl (Buffalo, Minn.) scored 18 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Dahl also snatched a team-high five rebounds and recorded four made three-pointers and three steals.
The second game would fall in favor of the Huskies as they pulled out an 80-70 victory at Halenbeck Hall. The game went back and forth throughout the first half and much of the second half until the Huskies pulled away with a 14-5 run to push the lead to 12 points. St. Cloud State held a lead of eight or more points for the remainder of the game on its way to a 10-point victory. A balanced scoring effort saw eight Huskies record six or more points. Luke Taylor led the way with 22 points and five rebounds. Tony Dahl would again light up the Marauders with 17 points on a perfect five of five from three-point range. Dahl also grabbed five rebounds in his 31 minutes of play.
SCOUTING UMARY
UMary enters Tuesday's matchup with a 5-4 overall record and 1-3 record in the NSIC. The Marauders have lost two of their past three games including losses to MSU Moorhead and Minot State but picked up a victory over Minnesota Crookston last Thursday. Junior guard Gerald Gittens leads UMary averaging team-highs of 14.1 points per game, three assists, and 1.1 steals. Gittens shoots an efficient 47.7% from the floor and 52.4% from three-point range. Last weekend against Minot State, Gittens scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and cashed five of his six three pointers. Two other Marauders average double-digit points – senior guard Zyon Smith at 12.4 points a contest and sophomore forward Brock Heffner at 11.9 points.
The Huskies held Smith in check in the first matchup last year as he scored eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. Smith grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the victory. The second game would bode better for Smith, but worse for the Marauders as he scored 16 points on 46% from the field, recorded two blocks and steals and grabbed three rebounds. Gittens and Heffner both transferred to UMary this past offseason.
Jack Nelson heads into his third season at the helm for UMary. During his tenure with the Marauders, Nelson has posted a record of 27-36 and has not exceeded 11 wins in a season. Nelson was associate head coach of the University of Sioux Falls for the prior three seasons before being hired in 2021 by UMary. Nelson earned his first head coaching job at Central Wyoming College where he earned 20 and 21 wins in his two seasons with the Rustlers.
SHINING STAR
St. Cloud State freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia) was named to the NSIC Men's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Nov. 11 for his efforts in his first two collegiate games. He averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in just 24.5 minutes per game during the 2-0 weekend for the Huskies in Kansas City. He shot 68.4% (13-of-19) from the field and 57.1% (4-of-7) from behind the three-point line over the weekend. In his collegiate debut on Friday, he erupted for 25 points and grabbed six rebounds in an 80-73 win over Pittsburg State. In just his second collegiate game ever, he recorded his first career double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds) in a 74-64 win over Henderson State.
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.
FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
The game will be streamed live for free on the NSIC Network. Live stats will be provided by UMary. Links to each coverage option can be found on the St. Cloud State Men's Basketball schedule page.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, St. Cloud State hit the road for a pair of conference games, battling Northern State and MSU Moorhead. Friday's game against Northern State was a tightly contested, back and forth game where St. Cloud held a lead as big as seven points in the first half. A three-pointer by senior Joe Mutimer (Melbourne, Australia) created that seven-point lead, but Northern responded with a 10-2 run taking a one-point lead halfway through the first half. A thunderous dunk by graduate student Luke Taylor (Germantown, Wis) started a 6-0 run for the Huskies. The Wolves quickly responded with back-to-back threes by Jacksen Moni and as a team, knocked down a three in four straight scoring possessions. Northern ended the half on a 16-6 run and went into halftime with a six-point lead. NSU shot a blistering 55% from beyond the arc in the first half and generated 11 three-point makes.
St. Cloud State trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half but kept the game close enough to not get out of hand. Senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) was fouled on a three-point attempt with 8:47 left in the game as the Huskies began their comeback attempt. Willert calmly made all three free throws, nailed a jumper in the paint, blocked a jump shot by Moni, and then drilled a three-pointer on the ensuing fastbreak to bring the Huskies within five. The Huskies continued to battle as the lead was cut down to four points off a dunk by Taylor and then three points off a deep three by Willert, but Northern iced the game by making nine of their 11 free throws attempts in the final six minutes of the game to earn an 83-77 victory. Taylor led the Huskies with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Off the bench, Matt Willert scored a season-high 20 points, cashed three three-pointers, and grabbed four rebounds.
Saturday's game against MSU Moorhead was tightly contested throughout the entire game. St. Cloud State trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half but battled against one of the top teams in Division II. Despite the 11-point deficit, the Huskies finished the half on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to six going into the break. Freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee, Wis) scored five of his eight points in the final 79 seconds, driving in for a layup and drilling a three-pointer on the ensuing possession.
SCSU came out of halftime with an 8-2 run to knot the game at 34 points. The rest of the game went back and forth, and the Huskies briefly pulled away with a 9-2 run that was capped off by a driving layup that Joe Mutimer kissed off the glass. St. Cloud held a seven-point lead, but the Dragons made a 6-0 run with 4:46 left in the game. Mutimer slithered into the paint again for a layup which gave the Huskies a three-point lead. Luke Taylor pined a Jacob Beeninga layup attempt against the glass for a monster block as the Huskies started to see the finish line. Moorhead made two free throws on their next possession to cut the Huskies lead down to one-point. St. Cloud State called a timeout with 2:48 left in the game. Matt Willert drained a three-pointer out of the timeout to give the Huskies a four-point lead. That three-pointer by Willter marked the beginning of the end for St. Cloud State, as the Dragons ended the game on a 5-0 run to break the hearts of the Huskies. Jamir Price made two free throws with 15 seconds remaining and Luke Taylor missed a baseline jumper that would have won the game for St. Cloud. The Huskies dropped their third straight game in a 64-65 heartbreaker. Mutimer scored a game-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Matt Willert was again the spark plug off the bench for SCSU, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting with three made three-pointers. Taylor recorded his third career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and blocked two shots.
Highlights from the MSU Moorhead game can be found on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
SERIES HISTORY
St. Cloud and the UMary have faced off 31 times since their inaugural matchup in the 2006-2007 season. The Huskies have captured 18 victories and have fell 13 times. The team's split last year's matchups. The Huskies dropped the first meeting against the Marauders 91-77. The Huskies offense could not keep up with UMary who shot 59.6% from the field to St. Cloud's 43.1%. UMary also shot an efficient 50% from behind the arc. Matt Willert led the Huskies in scoring with 19 points and he splashed four three-pointers and grabbed three rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Tony Dahl (Buffalo, Minn.) scored 18 points in 27 minutes off the bench. Dahl also snatched a team-high five rebounds and recorded four made three-pointers and three steals.
The second game would fall in favor of the Huskies as they pulled out an 80-70 victory at Halenbeck Hall. The game went back and forth throughout the first half and much of the second half until the Huskies pulled away with a 14-5 run to push the lead to 12 points. St. Cloud State held a lead of eight or more points for the remainder of the game on its way to a 10-point victory. A balanced scoring effort saw eight Huskies record six or more points. Luke Taylor led the way with 22 points and five rebounds. Tony Dahl would again light up the Marauders with 17 points on a perfect five of five from three-point range. Dahl also grabbed five rebounds in his 31 minutes of play.
SCOUTING UMARY
UMary enters Tuesday's matchup with a 5-4 overall record and 1-3 record in the NSIC. The Marauders have lost two of their past three games including losses to MSU Moorhead and Minot State but picked up a victory over Minnesota Crookston last Thursday. Junior guard Gerald Gittens leads UMary averaging team-highs of 14.1 points per game, three assists, and 1.1 steals. Gittens shoots an efficient 47.7% from the floor and 52.4% from three-point range. Last weekend against Minot State, Gittens scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and cashed five of his six three pointers. Two other Marauders average double-digit points – senior guard Zyon Smith at 12.4 points a contest and sophomore forward Brock Heffner at 11.9 points.
The Huskies held Smith in check in the first matchup last year as he scored eight points on 3-of-10 shooting. Smith grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in the victory. The second game would bode better for Smith, but worse for the Marauders as he scored 16 points on 46% from the field, recorded two blocks and steals and grabbed three rebounds. Gittens and Heffner both transferred to UMary this past offseason.
Jack Nelson heads into his third season at the helm for UMary. During his tenure with the Marauders, Nelson has posted a record of 27-36 and has not exceeded 11 wins in a season. Nelson was associate head coach of the University of Sioux Falls for the prior three seasons before being hired in 2021 by UMary. Nelson earned his first head coaching job at Central Wyoming College where he earned 20 and 21 wins in his two seasons with the Rustlers.
SHINING STAR
St. Cloud State freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia) was named to the NSIC Men's Basketball Shining 5 by the league office on Nov. 11 for his efforts in his first two collegiate games. He averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in just 24.5 minutes per game during the 2-0 weekend for the Huskies in Kansas City. He shot 68.4% (13-of-19) from the field and 57.1% (4-of-7) from behind the three-point line over the weekend. In his collegiate debut on Friday, he erupted for 25 points and grabbed six rebounds in an 80-73 win over Pittsburg State. In just his second collegiate game ever, he recorded his first career double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds) in a 74-64 win over Henderson State.
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.
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