St. Cloud State Men’s Basketball Eyes NSIC Title in Final Regular Season Weekend

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (18-10, 14-6 NSIC) eye an NSIC Title as they close out their regular season with two home games against RV Minnesota State on Friday, February 21 and No. 23 Winona State on Saturday, February 22. Friday's game will be played at 5:30 p.m. while Saturday's game will tipoff at 3:30 p.m.

Follow the Huskies
Tickets to both games are available at scsutickets.com. Live stats will be provided both games by St. Cloud State. Both games will be streamed live for free on the NSIC Network and broadcasted on the Varsity Network. Steve Linzmeier, the Voice of St. Cloud State Basketball, can be heard on the both the audio broadcast and livestream for both games.

Last Time Out
St. Cloud State took to the court this past weekend on the road as they traveled to Wayne State and Augustana.

In what was a defensive heavy start to the game against Wayne State, 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. 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.

Through the first five minutes of play against Augustana, the Huskies started strong with an 8-2 lead after Lucas Morgan finished a layup. The Huskies continued to expand the lead as a personal 5-0 run by Kynan Philippe gave St. Cloud State a 20-10 lead with 10:42 left in the half. Following a layup by Tanner Te Slaa, St. Cloud State ramped up their defense as Augustana went scoreless for nearly five minutes of play. By that point, the lead for SCSU had ballooned up to 19 points with less than six minutes remaining in the half. Following the field goal that ended their drought, the Vikings went on a 7-0 to get the lead back down to 12, leading then to a timeout by the Huskies. Out of that timeout, St. Cloud State got back on track as a fast break dunk by Wyatt Hawks pushed the lead back up to 19 with 1:43 left in the half. St. Cloud State would ultimately go into the break leading 42-25 after a lockdown defensive half. The early second half saw the Huskies flirt with a 20-point for the first few minutes, but the Vikings would continuously chip away. Every mild spurt by Augustana was countered by a run by the Huskies to keep a comfortable lead. With 2:33 left in the game, the Vikings finally broke through and got the deficit under double-digits as the score was set at 67-60. The defense and physicality of St. Cloud State, which has been their calling card all year, came through late in the game as Augustana could only muster two points and no field goals made in the final few minutes. St. Cloud State would seal the game at the free throw line by making five of their final six attempts as they would come away with a 72-62 win against Augustana. Lucas Morgan led the Huskies with 21 points on an uber efficient 8/10 shooting while making three of his five three-point shots. He also tallied five rebounds and three steals. This was Morgan's third game scoring 20+ points this season, his third game with 3+ threes and second game with 3+ steals. Nate Dahl was the only other Husky to score in double-figures as he tallied 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Dahl cashed two threes and went 7/8 at the free throw line. This was Dahl's 13th game scoring 13+ points.

St. Cloud State Statistical Leaders (total-average)

Points- Luke Winkel (354-13.1)
Rebounds- Wyatt Hawks (211-7.5)
Offensive rebounds- Wyatt Hawks (62-2.2)
Assists- Luke Winkel (105-3.9)
Steals- Nate Dahl (41-1.5)
Blocks- Wyatt Hawks (32-1.1)
Stocks- Wyatt Hawks (53-1.9)
Field goals made- Wyatt Hawks (122-4.4)
Three-point field goals made- Kynan Philippe (47-1.7)
Free throw makes- Nate Dahl (123-4.4)
Minutes- Nate Dahl (812-29.0)

St. Cloud State Team Stats (NSIC Ranking)

76.9 points per game (6^th) | 72.7 points per game allowed (8^th) | 4.3 scoring margin (8^th)
45.6 field goal percentage (9^th) | 35.1 three-point percentage (10^th) | 72.4 free throw percentage (6^th)
45.3 opponent field goal percentage (12^th) | 33.8 opponent three-point percentage (6^th)
35.3 rebounds per game (8^th) | 9.9 offensive rebounds per game (5^th)
33.0 opponent rebounds per game (6^th) | 2.4 rebounding margin (7^th)
12.3 turnovers per game (12^th) | 13.2 turnovers forced per game (2^nd) | 0.96 turnover margin (6^th)
2.93 blocks per game (9^th)
8.18 steals per game (2^nd)
12.11 assists per game (10^th)
7.5 three-point field goals made per game (9^th)

Playoff Push
With one week left in the regular season, the Huskies will be looking to cement their placement in the standings. The top four seeds in the standings receive a bye to the Sanford Pentagon, teams seeded 5-8 will host a first round playoff game, and teams seed 9-12 will travel to the corresponding host. St. Cloud State is currently in a five-way tie for first place in the conference. Following a weekend sweep, the Huskies clinched a home playoff game if they cannot capture a bye. St. Cloud State is still able to win the conference with two wins and some outside help. They will hold a share of the title with two wins regardless of what other teams do this weekend.

The full NSIC Standings are as follows:

Concordia-St. Paul: 19-7, 14-6 NSIC
Southwest Minnesota State: 19-7, 14-6
Winona State: 19-7, 14-6
Minnesota State: 18-10, 14-6
St. Cloud State: 18-10, 14-6
Minnesota Duluth: 18-8, 13-7
MSU Moorhead: 18-8, 13-7
Minot State: 21-8, 12-8
Sioux Falls: 14-12, 10-10
Wayne State: 16-11, 10-11
Augustana: 11-16, 8-13
Bemidji State: 10-16, 7-13
Minnesota Crookston: 5-21, 4-16
UMary: 5-24, 3-17
Northern State: 2-24, 1-19

Notable beneficiary games for St. Cloud State this weekend:
Friday, February 21
Winona State vs. MSU Moorhead
Concordia-St. Paul vs. Bemidji State
Southwest Minnesota State vs. UMary

Saturday, February 22
Minnesota State vs. MSU Moorhead
Concordia-St. Paul vs. Minnesota Crookston
Southwest Minnesota State vs. Northern State

In the event of a tie in the standings, seeding will be determined by the following criteria:

Head-to-head, if two games are played.
Point rating system – based on conference games only.
Head-to-head if one game is played.
Head-to-head competition of descending teams (win/loss record against teams who finished highest in standings).
Higher point differential in conference games only.
Coin flip.

All stats and standings accumulated February 18

Series History
Friday's game against Minnesota State Mankato will be the 194th all-time meeting between the programs with the Huskies holding a 99-94 record. The teams matched up earlier in the season where SCSU came away with the victory.

The Huskies got off a another strong start as a jumper by Luke Winkel gave St. Cloud State an early 11-3 lead over the Mavericks. SCSU held firm on that lead before back-to-back threes by Nathan Bunkosky put the Huskies in the drivers seat as they now led 21-10. While the Huskies comfortably led for most of the first half, Mankato battled back to cut the lead down to seven points with 5:28 remaining in the half. Following a timeout by SCSU, Kynan Philippe came out blazing with back-to-back threes. A layup by Wyatt Hawks extended the run to 8-0 before Philippe splashed a third three to put St. Cloud State up 44-26. The Huskies expanded their lead up to 19 after Anish Ramlall drained a three with 10 seconds left in the half as St. Cloud State led 52-33 at the break. The start of the second half saw SCSU build their lead up to 22 after Lucas Morgan converted an and-one. The Mavericks would not go away quietly as they commenced on a 9-2 run to cut the lead down to 15. Ramlall momentarily halted that momentum with a three to push the lead back up to 18 with 15:34 remaining. The Mavericks continued to chip away late into the game as the Huskies led 74-73 with 1:57 remaining. With the momentum on the side of Minnesota State, Luke Winkel came away with a big putback layup to bring the lead back up to three. MSU responded with a layup of their own as the teams then traded scoreless possessions with the Huskies leading 76-75 with 36 seconds remaining. Possessing the ball, Winkel would be fouled on the offensive possession for SCSU. Winkel stepped to the free throw line and knocked in both attempts to push the lead up to three points. The defense of St. Cloud State came up big as they came away with a stop. Winkel would again be fouled, this time with nine seconds remaining. With a chance to put the game away, Winkel iced the game by making two free throws to push the lead up to five. Mankato would not score on their final possession as St. Cloud State completed their weekend trip with a sweep as they defeated MSU Mankato 80-75. Luke Winkel paced the Huskies in scoring with 23 points while shooting 6/13 from the field and making nine of his ten free throw attempts. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out four assists. Wyatt Hawks nearly tallied a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds. Hawks shot 5/7 from the field and nabbed two steals.

Saturday's game against Winona State will be the 144th meeting between the teams with St. Cloud State holding a 96-47 record. The Huskies would take the game earlier in the season at Winona.

The Huskies got off to a strong start as a layup by Wyatt Hawks gave SCSU an early 8-0 lead. Winona State slowly started to chip away as they knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 16 at the 10:48 mark of the first half. From that point, the teams were tightly contested through the next five minutes before Luke Winkel capped off an 8-0 with a three-pointer to put the Huskies up 33-25 with 4:40 remaining in the half. The Warriors were able to cut the lead down to four points late in the half until Lucas Morgan got hot from three as he cashed three triples in the final 2:01 in the half. Morgan banged home a three with seven seconds left in the half to put St. Cloud State up 47-34 headed into the break. The Huskies held all the momentum headed into the break, but Winona State started the half on a 13-0 to tie the game back up at 47. Neither team was able to take control for most of the second half as the game would be tied at 67 at the 4:13 mark of the second half. Winona State then embarked on a 12-2 over the next three minutes to lead 79-69 with 1:18 left in the game as the game was looking out of reach for the Huskies. With 52 seconds left, Kynan Philippe thought otherwise as he drilled a three off an assist by Morgan which led to a Huskies timeout. SCSU fouled WSU on their possession as they split a pair of free throws to now lead 80-72. Nate Dahl came charging down the lane and finished inside while drawing a foul. Dahl converted the and-one for the Huskies as the lead was down to five points. The Warriors then inbounded the ball only for Lee Marks III to come away with a steal and score after St. Cloud State trapped Connor Drew in the backcourt. The lead was cut down to three points before SCSU fouled and Winona State again split a pair of free throws. With time starting to tick away, Anish Ramlall came up clutch for the Huskies as he splashed a three off an assist from Dahl to cut the lead down to one with 28 seconds remaining. St. Cloud State again fouled and Winona State again split a pair of free throws to lead by two points. With 13 seconds remaining, Dahl drove into the lane and would be fouled on his layup attempt. Dahl knocked in both attempts to tie the game at 82 points with Winona State having the final possession. To win the game, Isaiah Thompson missed a three, but the Warriors grabbed the offensive rebound. They were unable to get a second shot as the game headed to overtime as St. Cloud State went on a 13-3 run in the final 52 seconds. Overtime started slow for both teams as a free throw for the Warriors gave them an 85-84 lead with 1:51 left in extra time. On the ensuing offensive possession for St. Cloud State, Philippe came up big with a three to give SCSU an 87-85 lead. Winona State turned the ball over on their possession as Ramlall came away with the steal. On the offensive end, Wyatt Hawks backed down his defender and finished inside to put St. Cloud State up four points with 1:04 left. A free throw by Ramlall put up five, but Winona State would knock down a pair of free throws after a loose ball fall on SCSU. With the ball and 22 seconds left in the game, the shot clock started to tick down as Ramlall had the ball in his hands. He drove into the lane and with three Warriors collapsing on him finished an incredible layup where he switched to his left hand mid air. The clutch layup by Ramlall put the Huskies up five. SCSU put the game away on the defensive end as the Warriors missed multiple threes as St. Cloud State came away with a big 93-87 OT win against RV Winona State. Nate Dahl stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Dahl made two three-pointers while going 4/5 from the free throw line. Lucas Morgan scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds. He shot an efficient 7/13 from the field while making three three-pointers. Morgan also dished out two assists and tallied a block.

Scouting Minnesota State Mankato
The Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks come into this game holding an 18-10 record with a 14-6 mark in conference play. The Mavericks are currently receiving votes in the latest NABC Poll and have won two straight games with wins over Minot State and UMary. MSU came into this season projected to finish first in the NSIC while being tabbed the No. 1 team in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Preseason Poll. The Mavericks are currently the reigning NSIC Champion, Central Region Champion, and National Champion as they totaled a 35-2 record with a 20-2 conference record. Minnesota State captured their first national championship after beating Nova Southeastern 88-85 after Kyreese Willingham made a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left to win the game.

Willingham returns this season and is currently the third leading scorer in the conference with 19.2 points per game. He is shooting 47.6% from the field to go with 5.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.9 stocks. Senior Justin Eagins is the teams second leading scorer with a 15.7 average while shooting 41.9% from the field and 37.8% from three. Eagins is second in the conference in assists with 5.0 per game.

Head Coach Matt Margenthaler enters his 24th season with the Mavericks in the 2024-25 season. He has accumulated a 506-221 record during his tenure. Margenthaler is a four-time NSIC Coach of the Year recipient with the most recent honor coming last season.

Minnesota State Statistical Leaders (total-average)

Points- Kyreese Willingham (537-19.2)
Rebounds- Caden Kirkman (171-6.1)
Offensive rebounds- Caden Kirkman (50-1.8)
Assists- Justin Eagins (125-5.0)
Steals- Kyreese Willingham (48-1.7)
Blocks- Kyreese Willingham (33-1.2)
Stocks- Kyreese Willingham (81-2.9)
Field goals made- Kyreese Willingham (201-7.2)
Three-point field goals made- Justin Eagins (73-2.9)
Free throw makes- Kyreese Willingham (92-3.3)
Minutes- Kyreese Willingham (938-33.5)

Minnesota State Team Stats (NSIC Ranking)

79.4 points per game (3^rd) | 72.9 points per game allowed (9^th) | 6.6 scoring margin (4^th)
45.8 field goal percentage (8^th) | 35.1 three-point percentage (9^th) | 73.2 free throw percentage (5^th)
43.7 opponent field goal percentage (6^th) | 34.2 opponent three-point percentage (7^th)
37.1 rebounds per game (3^rd) | 11.2 offensive rebounds per game (2^nd)
35.8 opponent rebounds per game (11^th) | 1.3 rebounding margin (8^th)
9.1 turnovers per game (1^st) | 11.6 turnovers forced per game (7^th) | 2.57 turnover margin (2^nd)
3.25 blocks per game (5^th)
6.57 steals per game (8^th)
14.18 assists per game (4^th)
9.3 three-point field goals made per game (2^nd)

Scouting Winona State
The Winona State Warriors come into this matchup holding a 19-7 record with a 14-6 mark in conference play. Winona State is currently ranked No. 23 in the latest NABC Poll. The Warriors have won four straight games with wins coming against Augustana, Southwest Minnesota State, UMary, and Minot State. Winona State came into this season projected to finish 11th in the conference following a 2023-24 season where they went 21-10 with a 14-8 conference record. The Warriors qualified for the NSIC Tournament where they beat Northern State and MSU Moorhead to reach the semifinals. Their season would end as they were defeated 90-76 with a loss to Minnesota Duluth.

The Warriors have gone with the same starting lineup most of the year with Luke Haertle, Connor Drew, Jhei-R Jones, Isaiah Thompson, and Tyler Mason earning the nod. All five starters score in double digits. Haertle is leading the way with 17.6 points per game which ranks fourth in the NSIC. The sophomore guard is shooting 46.0% from the field while totaling 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.0 stocks per game. Thompson nearly averages a double-double with 13.9 points and 9.0 rebounds, which is third in the NSIC. He is shooting 56.0% from the field and 37.5% from three.

Head Coach Todd Eisner enters his 10th season with the Warriors in the 2024-25 season. Eisner has accumulated a 149-111 record during his tenure with Winona State. He has guided the Warriors to15+ win in six of his nine seasons.

Winona State Statistical Leaders (total-average)

Points- Luke Haertle (457-17.6)
Rebounds- Isaiah Thompson (235-9.0)
Offensive rebounds- Isaiah Thompson (51-2.0)
Assists- Luke Haertle (92-3.5)
Steals- Luke Haertle (38-1.5)
Blocks- Luke Haertle/Isaiah Thompson (12-0.5)
Stocks- Luke Haertle (50-2.0)
Field goals made- Luke Haertle (151-5.8)
Three-point field goals made- Tyler Mason (54-2.1)
Free throw makes- Luke Haertle (121-4.7)
Minutes- Luke Haertle (902-34.7)

Winona State Team Stats (NSIC Ranking)

77.8 points per game (4^th) | 71.5 points per game allowed (5^th) | 6.3 scoring margin (5^th)
46.1 field goal percentage (6^th) | 35.0 three-point percentage (11^th) | 75.2 free throw percentage (2^nd)
42.3 opponent field goal percentage (3^rd) | 32.7 opponent three-point percentage (5^th)
36.5 rebounds per game (5^th) | 8.1 offensive rebounds per game (13^th)
32.7 opponent rebounds per game (4^th) | 3.8 rebounding margin (5^th)
10.6 turnovers per game (5^th) | 10.8 turnovers forced per game (9^th) | 0.19 turnover margin (8^th)
2.08 blocks per game (14^th)
5.85 steals per game (9^th)
13.0 assists per game (7^th)
9.3 three-point field goals made per game (1^st)

Winona State will play MSU Moorhead 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.