Huskies Fall Short in 75-73 Loss to No. 6 Dragons

Friday, December 13

St. Cloud, MN

7:30 P.M.

St. Cloud State

5-6,1-2NSIC

#6 MSU Moorhead

8-1,3-0NSIC

MSU Moorhead

St. Cloud St.

12/14/2024 12:43:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

St. Cloud State sits at 5-6 on the year

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (5-6, 1-2 NSIC) were narrowly defeated by the No. 6 ranked MSU Moorhead Dragons in a 75-73 thriller Friday evening. The Huskies got off to a strong start as Lucas Morgan converted an and-one layup to put SCSU up 8-2 early in the half. The Dragons would find their groove as they took a 17-10 lead at the 14:09 mark of the half after a 15-2 run. Coming out of a timeout, the Huskies started to get back into the game as Luke Winkel drained a three to bring SCSU within two points. MSUM pushed the lead back up to seven points after a three-pointer by Jacob Beeninga, but St. Cloud State stayed resilient as Anish Ramlall capped off a 12-2 run as the Huskies would take a 29-27 lead with 5:36 left in the half. The teams battled back-and-forth the remainder of the first half as a buzzer beating layup by Kynan Philippe gave the Huskies a 40-39 lead going into halftime. The teams continued the tight play into the second half as Ramlall cashed a three to tie the game at 47. Moorhead started to take control after that make as they embarked on a 9-0 run to lead with 12:32 left in the game. The Huskies would chip away over the final 12 minutes as a three-pointer by Nate Dahl brought the Huskies within two points with 1:41 left in the game. In need of a stop, the Huskies would force Beeninga into a tough layup that he missed, but SCSU would be called for over the back, leading to free throws for the Dragons. Logan Kinsey would make one of his two attempts, leaving the door open for St. Cloud State. Now needing a score, Luke Winkel would draw a crowd on a drive and dish it down to an open Lee Marks III who finished a layup with 29 seconds left, setting the score at 73-72. St. Cloud State would foul and Moorhead again went 1/2 at the line. On the ensuing offensive possession, Wyatt Hawks drove into the lane where he would be fouled on his layup attempt with eight seconds remaining. Hawks knocked down the first attempt, to bring the Huskies within one point, but was unable to tie the game after he missed the second attempt. St. Cloud State fouled on the rebound as they trailed 74-73 with six seconds left. Moorhead went 1/2 at the line, making the second attempt to put the Dragons up 75-73. Having no timeouts left, the Huskies would need to go the length of the court to tie or potentially take the lead. SCSU inbounded to Winkel who quickly worked his way into the paint. He would go up for the game-tying layup but would have his shot blocked as time expired. St. Cloud State would fall to 5-6 on the year following a 75-73 loss to the Dragons.

Top Huskies

Luke Winkel led the Huskies in scoring and assists as tallied 16 points on 5/11 shooting while dishing four assists. Winkel also set a career-high in three-point makes after going 3/4 from deep to go along with two steals.
Wyatt Hawks nearly tallied a double-double as he scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He also set a career-high of three assists while blocking two shots.
Anish Ramlall scored in double-figures for the second straight game as he totaled 12 points on 3/7 shooting while making two three-point shots.

Notables

St. Cloud State is now 85-55 all-time against MSU Moorhead and have lost six straight games to the Dragons.
The Huskies led the game in field goal percentage (40.7-38.5), three-point percentage (35-25), assists (10-7), steals (6-2), points in the paint (28-22), and bench points (27-2).
Lee Marks III tied his career-high of nine points while shooting 3/6 from the field. Marks also grabbed four rebounds.
Nate Dahl scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds while shooting 3/6 from the field. This was the fifth game this season where Dahl has snagged five or more rebounds.
Lucas Morgan totaled seven points, four rebounds, and a steal.

Up Next
St. Cloud State will be back in action tomorrow as they take on Northern State at 5:30 at 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.