St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Set to Open Season in Missouri with Hillyard Tipoff Classic

Friday, November 14

St. Joseph, MO

4:00 P.M.

St. Cloud State

Northwest Missouri State

Photo by: Kayden Kircher

St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Set to Open Season in Missouri with Hillyard Tipoff Classic

11/12/2025 12:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Huskies to play Northwest Missouri State and Emporia State

St. Cloud, Minn. – St. Cloud State Men's basketball begin their 2025-26 campaign this weekend as they travel to St. Joseph, Missouri to play in the Hillyard Tipoff Classic. The Huskies will take on Northwest Missouri State on Friday, November 14 and then Emporia State on Saturday, November 15. Friday's game is set for 4:00 p.m. while Saturday's game will tipoff at 2:00 p.m.

Follow the Huskies
Both games will be streamed live on the MIAA Network (registration required). Live Stats will be provided by the host school, Missouri Western State, for both games. More information of the event can be found on the Hillyard Tipoff Classic home page.

NSIC Preseason Poll
Coming into this season, the Huskies were projected to finish second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches' Poll. St. Cloud State returns 11 players from last years team with sophomore Luke Winkel being tabbed as the player to watch. The Huskies were also receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) preseason poll. SCSU was listed as the top team to receive votes with 52 points and nearly cracked the top 25 with Lubbock Christian ranking slightly ahead at No. 25 with 56 points.

Head Coach Quincy Henderson enters his fourth season at the helm ahead of the 2025-26 season. Henderson and the Huskies took a leap forward a season ago as they finished with a 20-12 record and a 15-7 mark in conference play to place third in the NSIC. A 68-60 win over Bemidji State in the first round of the NSIC Tournament would be the first postseason win for the Huskies during the Henderson era. SCSU would be defeated 78-72 against Minnesota State in the quarterfinals, ending their season.

"I am fortunate to coach a quality group of guys that have shown up consistently to compete regardless of the time of day or day of the week," said Henderson. "They have held each other accountable through the preseason which has allowed us to cover a lot in a short period of time. This will be the most tenured group we have had in my time here, and we look forward to building on the progress we made a season ago. The NSIC will be as competitive and well coached as it always has been which should make for some quality basketball across the league. We are excited to get underway in November."

Entering his sophomore season, guard Luke Winkel was named the player to watch for the Huskies after earning First Team All-NSIC in his freshman campaign. Winkel played in 31 games and paced St. Cloud State with team-highs of 13.3 points, 3.9 assists, and 1.4 steals. He also shot 40.3% from the field, 38.1% from three, and 80.4% from the free throw line while starting the final 16 games. The Ankeny, Iowa native produced nine games with 17+ points, seven games with 6+ assists, and 12 games with 5+ field goals made.

"Luke had a very solid freshman year with the program," said Henderson. "He was asked to do a lot early on and gradually grew into that role playing his best basketball through the second half of the season. He has a great work ethic and wherever he has been, he has made the players around him better which led to a First Team All-Conference selection this past season. I know he has had a great offseason in preparation for the upcoming year, and I expect him to pick up where he left off; playing at a high level."

St. Cloud State will return four of their five starters from a year ago including Winkel's backcourt teammate in Second Team All-NSIC honoree Nate Dahl, Australian sharpshooter Kynan Philippe, and the nightly double-double threat in big man Wyatt Hawks. Dahl made 28 starts last season and finished second on the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game. He also averaged 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.4 steals while finishing fourth in the conference in free throw attempts per game with 4.1. Philippe enters his second season with the Huskies after averaging 8.5 points and leading the team in three-pointers made with 56. He totaled 11 games where he made 3+ threes a year ago. Hawks begins his junior campaign after starting in all 32 games last year while averaging 10.3 points and a team-highs of 7.5 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.8 stocks. Hawks recorded two double-doubles a season ago with seven games where he grabbed 10+ rebounds.

Other notable returners will be junior Anish Ramlall, redshirt sophomores Nathan Bunkosky and Izaac Neal, and sophomore Lee Marks III. Ramlall started 16 games last season while Bunkosky, Neal, and Marks III played important roles off the bench for SCSU.

Rounding out the roster is junior Vance Peiffer, sophomore transfer Bob Griechen, sophomore Landon Riebel, redshirt freshmen Tre Blisset and Will Brands, and freshmen KJ Morris and Azayah Washington. Griechen transferred from West Texas A&M where he started 19 games and earned Lone Star Conference All-Freshman Team.

Preseason Coaches' Poll
Returning to the NSIC will be the North and South Division. With the insertion of Jamestown to the NSIC, divisions will be back in play for the first time since the 2022-23 season now that there is an even number of teams. The top 12 overall teams will make the NSIC Tournament.

Poll Results (Division Ranking)

Southwest Minnesota State (No. 1 South)
St. Cloud State (No. 2 South)
Minnesota State (T-No. 3 South)
Concordia-St. Paul (No. 5 South)
Augustana (T-No. 3 South)

Minnesota Duluth (No. 1 North)

MSU Moorhead (No. 2 North)
Sioux Falls (No. 6 South)
Winona State (No. 7 South)
Wayne State (No. 8 South)
Minot State (No. 3 North)
Bemidji State (No. 4 North)
Northern State (No. 5 North)
Jamestown (No. 6 North)
Minnesota Crookston (No. 7 North)
UMary (No. 8 North)

Series History
Friday's game against Northwest Missouri State will be the second all-time meeting between the teams with the Huskies holding a 1-0 advantage in the series. The teams first met in 1958-59 season where SCSU came away with a 68-55 victory.

Saturday's game against Emporia State will be the third matchup between the two programs. St. Cloud State is 2-0 all-time against the Hornets with the most recent game being played in the 2014-15 season where the Huskies captured an 87-77 win.

Scouting Northwest Missouri State
The Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats come into this matchup having already played two games this season. The Bearcats are 1-1 on the year with a 49-71 loss to NSIC foe Minnesota State and an 82-79 win against University of Missouri St. Louis. NMSU is coming off a 2024-25 season where they went 6-22 with a 4-15 mark in conference play. They did not reach the postseason after finishing last in the conference. The Bearcats came into this season projected to finish last in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Through two games, the Bearcats are led by a trio of seniors who all average 12+ points. Royce Williams leads the trio with averages of 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 3.0 steals. Williams transferred from Southern New Hampshire University where he played in 28 games and averaged 9.3 points. Aiden Gair and Matthew Mayes are averaging 12.5 and 12.0 points respectively. Gair leads the team in assists with 4.5 per game while Mayes is shooting 62.5% from the field and 50.0% from three in his lone game played.

Head Coach Matt Keeley enters his second season with Northwest Missouri State in the 2025-26 season. Prior to joining the Bearcats last year, Keeley spent seven seasons at Ottawa University Arizona and tallied a 113-89 record with three consecutive national tournament appearances from 2021-2023. He would also be named the NCCAA National Coach of the Year in 2023.

Scouting Emporia State
The Emporia State University Hornets will also be tipping off their 2025-26 in the Hillyard Tipoff Classic. Emporia State is coming off a 11-18 record with an 8-11 mark in conference play in 2024-25. The Hornets reached the MIAA Tournament after a 10th place finish. Their season would end after being defeated by Central Oklahoma in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. Emporia State came into this season projected to finish 10th in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The offseason saw the Hornets lose their top five scorers from last season. Sophomore forward Chris Harris is the notable returner for Emporia State. Harris averaged 7.3 points while shooting 42.7% from the field and 35.5% from three last season. He also grabbed 3.1 rebounds per game.

Head Coach Tom Billeter enters his second season at Emporia State. Billeter spent the previous 21 years in the NSIC at Augustana where he totaled a 393-224 record with a National Championship in 2016. He led Augustana to nine NCAA Tournament appearances with three NSIC Championships and two NSIC Tournament Championships during his tenure.

Emporia State will take on NSIC foe Wayne State on Friday before facing the Huskies on Saturday.

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.