Second Half Explosion Helps Put St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Back in Win Column

Wednesday, January 10

St. Cloud, Minn.

5:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

7-8,3-6NSIC

Concordia-St. Paul

8-8,3-7NSIC

Concordia-St. Paul

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Jacob Sanders

Second Half Explosion Helps Put St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Back in Win Column

1/10/2024 11:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Huskies use 61-point second half to cruise past CSP, 86-56

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (7-8 overall, 3-6 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) earned an 86-56 blowout victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Wednesday evening at Halenbeck Hall in St Cloud.

SCSU struggled to get its offense going, trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, but went into the break with a 25-24 lead over the Golden Bears. The Huskies turned the ball over nine times and shot just 34.5% (10-of-29) from the field and 16.7% (1-of-9) from three in the first half but held CSP to 35.7% (10-of-28) from the field and 20% (2-of-10) from three. The Huskies also forced Concordia-St. Paul into 11 first half turnovers, turning them into 11 points. 16 of SCSU's 25 first half points came from the bench.

The Huskies came out of the break ready to play, going on a 32-8 run in the first seven minutes of the second half to take a 25-point lead. SCSU's biggest lead of the game was 35 and came with just under five and a half minutes left in the game. Freshman Anish Ramlall (Rosemount, Minn.) didn't miss a shot (4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from three) in the second half, scoring 11 of his 14 points in final 20 minutes. Fellow freshman Nate Dahl (Buffalo, Minn.) also poured in double-digit points in the second half alone, scoring 11 of his career-high 13 points in the second half. The Huskies poured in 61 second half points, shooting an incredible 56.8% (21-of-37) from the field and 64.3% (9-of-14) from three. The Huskies finished the game with five players in double figures – Ramlall – 14, Nate Dahl – 13, freshman Wyatt Hawks (White Bear Lake, Minn.) – 13, senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) – 11 and freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee, Wis.) – 11. CSP struggled mightily in the second half shooting an icy 36.4% (12-of-33) from the field and 0.0% (0-of-11) from three.

Two Concordia-St. Paul (8-8, 3-7 NSIC) players, Japannah Kellog (14) and Marcus Skeete (11) scored in double figures.

TOP HUSKIES

Ramlall scored a game-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from three.
Nate Dahl scored 13 points on 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-3 from three and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds.
Hawks nearly recorded a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. He shot 5-of-10 from the field.

NOTABLES

With the win, the Huskies are now 27-7 all-time against Concordia-St. Paul.

SCSU led the game in field goal percentage (47.0%-36.1%), three-point percentage (50.0%-9.5%), free-throw percentage (73.7%-66.7%), field goals (31-22), three pointers (10-2), free throws (14-10), total rebounds (9-35—44 – 6-29—35), assists (14-9), points off turnovers (20-8), points in the paint (36-34), fast break points (11-4) and bench points (46-24).
CSP led the game in steals (9-8) and blocks (4-2).
Both teams scored six second chance points.
Ramlall tied his career-high four made three-pointers. He has scored 14+ points in seven games including three of the last four. He has made four three-pointers in four games, including three of the last four.
Nate Dahl recorded career-highs in points (13), minutes (20), field goals (four), field goal attempts (nine), three pointers (two), three-point attempts (three), free throws (three) and rebounds (five – tie). First time scoring double-digit points in his career – previous best point total was seven. Second game grabbing five rebounds.
Hawks tied career highs in minutes (19), field goals (five), free throws (three), assists (one) and steals (one). He set new career highs in points (13), field goal attempts (10) and free throw attempts (five). He has scored 10+ points in six games including five of the last six. He has posted 9+ rebounds in three of the last four games, 5+ rebounds in seven games and 4+ rebounds in 11 games. He has been one rebound short of a double-double in the last two games.
Willert scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out three assists. He tied his season high of seven rebounds and set a new season-high of three assists. He has scored 8+ points in 10 games this season including the last four and 10+ points in eight games, including the past three. He has grabbed 4+ rebounds in seven games including the last three. Has made 2+ threes in seven games this season.
Freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee, Wis.) scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He grabbed four rebounds and recorded three steals. The three steals tie his career high. He has scored 11+ points in seven games this season including the last six games in a row. He has scored 7+ points in 11 games. He has recorded 2+ steals in nine games this season including five out of the last six games. He has recorded 3+ steals in three games this season (three of the last four games).
Sophomore Andre Renta (Hudson, Wis.) scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. He tied a season-high three field goals.
Freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia) scored seven points, making all four of his free throw attempts. He also tallied four rebounds and three steals. The three steals tie his career high. He has grabbed 4+ rebounds in 13 games and recorded 2+ steals in five games (three games with three).
Freshman Vance Peiffer (Waukee, Iowa) scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and recorded the teams only two blocks. The two blocks a a new career high. He has scored 6+ points in the last six games and grabbed 4+ rebounds in six of the last seven and eight of the 10 games he has played in.
Senior Joe Mutimer (Melbourne, Australia) recorded three assists. He has dished out 3+ assists in nine games this season.

UP NEXT
The Huskies play Minnesota Duluth at home this Saturday. It is the I Have A Dream Game and you can get in the game for free with a donation of a non-perishable food item. There will be a giveaway of MLK/SCSU t-shirts and a pregame tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. The game will tip-off at 1 p.m. CT at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud. Live coverage will be available on the NSIC Network and The Varsity Network with live stats being provided by SCSU. Links to each coverage option will be available on the SCSU Men's Basketball schedule page.

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.