St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Drops First Northern Sun Game of 2024

Friday, January 5

Sioux Falls, S.D.

5:30 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

6-7,2-5NSIC

Sioux Falls

7-7,4-4NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Sioux Falls

Luke Taylor vs. Minot State 12-2 | 1-5 recap

Photo by: Dylan De Baldo

St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Drops First Northern Sun Game of 2024

1/5/2024 10:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Huskies cool off in second half, fall to Sioux Falls, 92-83

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (6-7 overall, 2-5 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) fell in its first conference game of the new year, 92-83 to Sioux Falls on Friday evening at the Stewart Center in Sioux Falls.

Just 2:15 into the game, SCSU took a 9-2 lead after freshman Anish Ramlall (Rosemont, Minn.), freshman Lucas Morgan (Sydney, Australia) and graduate student Luke Taylor (Germantown, Wis.) each made a three-pointer, causing Sioux Falls to call an early timeout. SCSU led 21-11 after Taylor made his second three pointer of the game at the 12:58 mark. USF clawed back before the Huskies were able to go on another run and led 32-23 with 8:07 left in the half after senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) made a three-pointer. Sioux Falls closed the half on a 21-11 run to take a 44-43 lead after 20 minutes. St. Cloud State shot 50% (17-of-34) from the field, 60% (6-of-10) from three, and 100% (3-of-3) from the line while holding the lead for 18:14 of the first half.

The game was very closely contested in the second half with both teams taking turns with the lead, but the Cougars executed better down the stretch. Sioux Falls outshot the Huskies 51.9% (14-27) to 40.6% (13-32) and made 18-of-22 free throws to close the game out and earn a 92-83 victory in its first game after the holiday break.

Five Huskies contributed double-digit points, but so did five Sioux Falls (7-7, 4-4 NSIC) players including a pair who scored more than 20 – Jack Thompson and Shawn Warrior. Thompson scored 22 points and went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line and Warrior scored 20 on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting from the field including a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point land. Two Cougars almost recorded double-doubles – Noah Puetz (15 points and eight rebounds) and Zane Alm (11 points and eight rebounds).

TOP HUSKIES

Ramlall scored a team-high 18 points on 6-of-14 from the field and 4-of-10 from three. He added three rebounds and three steals.
Taylor scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting including a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point land and grabbed four rebounds.
Morgan scored 13 points on 3-of-7 from the field, 2-of-3 from three and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists.

NOTABLES

After the loss, the Huskies are now 14-6 all-time against Sioux Falls.

SCSU led the game in three-point percentage (56.5%-28.6%), three pointers (13-4), assists (14-12) and bench points (26-20).
USF led the game in field goal percentage (51.7%-45.5%), free-throw percentage (81.3%-76.9%), field goals (31-30), free throws (26-10), total rebounds (7-30—37 – 6-19—25), steals (7-6), blocks (8-1), points off turnovers (15-10), points in the paint (38-30), second chance points (20-4) and fast break points (19-4).
Ramlall recorded career-highs in field goal attempts (14), three pointers (four – tie), three-point attempts (10) and steals (3). He has scored 14+ points in six games, made four threes in back-to-back games and has dished out 3+ assists in five straight games.
Taylor recorded a season-high three made three-pointers. He has scored 8+ points in 12 of 13 games and 12+ in six games. He has grabbed 4+ rebounds in 10 games.
Morgan tied his career-high making five free throws. He has scored 10+ points in six games and has grabbed 5+ rebounds in 12 of 13 games this season.
Freshman Jamiir Allen (Milwaukee, Wis.) scored 13 points, dished out a team-high four assists and tied a team-high recording three steals. He has scored double-digit points in five games this season and now four games in a row. He has recorded 2+ steals in eight of 13 games this season (four straight).
Senior Matt Willert (Buffalo, Minn.) scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds. He made 2-of-3 three point-attempts He has scored 8+ points in eight games this season and has made 2+ three pointers in six contests.
Freshman Vance Peiffer (Waukee, Iowa) scored six points on 3-of-4 shooting and grabbed four rebounds.
Senior Joe Mutimer (Melbourne, Australia) scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field including making his only three-point attempt. He has scored 7+ points in six games this season.
Sophomore Andre Renta (Hudson, Wis.) scored three points and grabbed a season-high four rebounds.

UP NEXT
The Huskies travel to Marshall for a game tomorrow against Southwest Minnesota State. The game is set to tip-off at 3:30 p.m. CT at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minn. Live coverage will be available on the NSIC Network and The Varsity Network with live stats being provided by SMSU. 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.