Defense Shines in Huskies 65-53 Win Over Wayne State

Friday, February 14

Wayne, NE

5:30 P.M.

St. Cloud State

17-10,13-6NSIC

Wayne State

15-11,9-11NSIC

St. Cloud St.

Wayne St. (NE)

Photo by: Kayden Kircher

2/14/2025 11:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

St. Cloud State holds Wildcats to 0 field goals made in final 11:59

Wayne, Neb.- St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (17-10, 13-6 NSIC) flexed their defensive muscle Friday evening as they defeated Wayne State 65-53. In what was a defensive heavy start to the game, St. Cloud State held an 8-6 lead at the 11:45 mark of the first half following a three-pointer by Lucas Morgan. The teams battled back and forth for most of the first half, but the Huskies appeared to take control following an and-one by Wyatt Hawks and then a layup by Lee Marks III to lead by five. The Wildcats would chip away before a 10-2 run propelled them to a 26-23 lead with 3:38 left in the half. Nate Dahl would weather the storm with a three to tie the game back up. That would ultimately be the final bucket for the Huskies in the half as Wayne State closed on a 5-0 run to lead 31-26 at the break. WSC held a steady lead for the first six minutes of the half as a layup by Matt Noll set the score at 39-32. On their offensive possession, Luke Winkel found Anish Ramlall on a backdoor corner cut to which he finished for the and-one. Converting the three-point play, Ramlall came up with a steal in the backcourt as the Huskies put on a 1-2-1-1 press. SCSU then worked the ball into Hawks who finished a hook shot. With a new frantic pace in play, the Wildcats tried to push the ball up the court with a pass only for it to be intercepted by Winkel. With a three on one fast break, Winkel attacked and missed a layup, but Lee Marks III was right behind him to slam it back home for the dunk. In a mere 32 seconds, the Huskies went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 39 and now held momentum. From that sequence, the teams traded blows as the game would be tied at 48 with 6:16 left in the game. Marks III would give the Huskies a two-point lead after making a pair of free throws. Winkel would knock down a three to extend the lead to five points with 4:58 remaining. Morgan kept it rolling for St. Cloud State as he knocked down a pair of free throws as SCSU now led by seven with 4:16 left in the game. The Huskies would seal the game with great defense and makes at the free throw line. In the final 2:35 of the game, St. Cloud State went 6/6 at the line with a few timely buckets from Ramlall and Morgan to ultimately leave Wayne with a 65-53 victory. Over the final 11:59 of the game, the Wildcats would not make a field goal and score a mere 10 points solely from the free throw line. They would go on to shoot 33.3% from the field for the game, 25% in the second half, and commit 17 turnovers.

Top Huskies

Lucas Morgan led the Huskies in scoring with 15 points on an efficient 5/9 shooting. He also went 4/4 from the free throw line and recorded four stocks and two rebounds. This was his eighth game with 15+ points (fourth consecutive) and second game with 4+ stocks.
Lee Marks III nearly notched a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Marks shot 4/7 from the field to go with two assists and blocks. The rebounds and assists were career-highs. This was Marks' fourth game scoring double digits.
Luke Winkel stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists, and three three-pointers, and two steals. This was his seventh game with 5+ assists and 12th multi-steal game.

Notables

St. Cloud State is now 27-6 all-time against Wayne State.
With the win, SCSU clinched a home playoff game in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. They still have an opportunity to win the conference and receive a bye to the quarterfinals.
The Huskies led the game in field goal percentage (37.7-33.3), free throw makes (20-14), rebounds (43-32), offensive rebounds (12-7), blocks (5-2), points off turnovers (23-14), second chance points (9-4), bench points (21-8), fast break points (14-9), and points in the paint (30-24).
Nate Dahl totaled 11 points, five rebounds, and two steals. This was his 12th multi-steal game this season.
Wyatt Hawks scored five points and grabbed six rebounds while blocking a shot.
Anish Ramlall tallied seven points, five rebounds, and two steals. This was his fourth multi-steal game.
Izaac Neal scored two points, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded a steal. This was his second game with 5+ rebounds this season.
Kynan Philippe totaled four rebounds.

Up Next
St. Cloud State will be back in action tomorrow as they take on Augustana at 3:30. 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.