Huskies Come up Clutch at the Free Throw Line to Advance to the Quarterfinals in the NSIC Tournament

Wednesday, February 26

7:30 P.M.

St. Cloud State

20-11,15-7NSIC

Bemidji State

10-19,7-15NSIC

Bemidji St.

St. Cloud St.

Photo by: Kayden Kircher

Huskies Come up Clutch at the Free Throw Line to Advance to the Quarterfinals in the NSIC Tournament

2/26/2025 11:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

St. Cloud State beats Bemidji State 68-60 in first round

St. Cloud, Minn.- St. Cloud State Men's Basketball (20-11, 15-7 NSIC) came up clutch at the free throw line late against Bemidji State Wednesday evening to win 68-60 and advance to the quarterfinals in the NSIC Tournament. The Beavers got off to a fast start as a three gave them a 7-3 lead. Following that triple, the Wyatt Hawks went on a 7-1 run as he dove to the rim and slammed it home for the and-one. Hawks converted the free throw as SCSU led 10-8 at the 15:30 mark of the first half. The rest of the first half was a battle as neither team held more than a four-point lead. A layup by John Sutherland with six seconds left gave the Beavers a 31-29 lead going into the break. The second half was a strong start for SCSU as Lucas Morgan capped off a 10-2 run with a breakaway dunk as the Huskies now led 39-33. St. Cloud State held a steady lead over the next few minutes before back-to-back threes by Kynan Philippe pushed the lead up to 14 with 10:41 left in the game. From that point, the Beavers roared back into the game as a 19-4 run gave them a 56-55 lead with 3:26 left in the game. Nate Dahl retook the lead for St. Cloud State with a floater in the paint. After a defensive stop, Hawks would be fouled and knocked down both free throws to give the Huskies some breathing room. Another stop and free throw by Morgan would be followed by a layup from Tate Olson as SCSU led 60-58 with 1:31 left in the game. On the other end, Morgan backed down his defender as finished inside to push the lead back up to four. The Beavers called a timeout as they had the ball with 39 seconds left on the baseline of their own basket. Hawks would pick off an inbounds pass and be fouled in what was a crucial defensive stop for the Huskies. Hawks again come up big at the line as he made both free throws. The Beavers came down and scored a layup and be forced to foul as the deficit was four with 31 seconds left. BSU would foul Philippe who calmly knocked down both shots. St. Cloud State shutout the Beavers the rest of the way as a steal and two free throw makes by Luke Winkel capped off the 68-60 win for St. Cloud State. In the final 4:04 of the game, the Huskies made 10 of their final 12 free throw attempts.

Top Huskies

Wyatt Hawks closed in on a double-double as he tallied 18 points and eight rebounds. Hawks also made a career-high 10 free throws on a career-high 12 attempts while dishing out three assists. This was his third game scoring 18+ points this season.
Kynan Philippe tallied his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Philippe also totaled a block and steal while making three three-pointers. This was his 11th game making 3+ threes this season.
Lucas Morgan scored 12 points, grabbed four rebounds, and totaled four stocks. This was Morgan's third game with 4+ stocks this season.

Notables

St. Cloud State is now 108-47 all-time against Bemidji State and have won three consecutive games.
The Huskies led the game in three-point makes (6-5), free throw makes (24-5), assists (9-6), steals (10-6), points off turnovers (21-7), and fast break points (10-0).
Nate Dahl scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds while shooting 4/9 from the field. This was Dahl's 11th game grabbing 6+ rebounds.
Luke Winkel was the final Husky to score in double-figures as he tallied 11 points, three assists, and two rebounds and steals. This was his 15th multi-steal game of the season.
Lee Marks III totaled two points, three rebounds, and two steals. This was his fourth multi-steal game this season.

Up Next
St. Cloud State will continue postseason play on Sunday, March 2 as they play the No. 4 seed Minnesota State at 4:30 at the Sanford Pentagon. 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.