Men's Basketball Release: January 13
Nebraska-Omaha 79, Minnesota Duluth 68
Omaha, Neb. -- Keith Price recorded UNO's first double-double of the season, scoring 18 points with 13 rebounds, leading the Mavericks to a decisive 79-68 victory over Minnesota Duluth at Sapp Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks had a hot hand in the first half, shooting a solid 60 percent from the field, including 6-for-11 from 3-point range. Zac Robinson knocked down three 3-pointers in the half to lead the team with nine points. He went on to score 17 points, with five triples.
Price showed off his athleticism, grabbing seven rebounds in the first half, adding six points. Price closed out the scoring in the first half, throwing down a monster dunk after a Josh Vanderslice steal, which gave UNO a 40-26 lead at the break.
He had another highlight-reel dunk in the second half, throwing down an inbounds pass from Vanderslice.
UNO's shooting and defense held strong through the second half, never allowing the Bulldogs to get within single digits. The Mavericks largest lead was 22 points with 3:48 remaining in the game. Only then, with the defense relaxing a little, did Minnesota Duluth get on a run, scoring the last 11 points of the game. The Mavs shot 57.4 percent for the game.
Michael Jenkins and Denny Johnston each reach double-figures, scoring 11 points each.
Four Bulldogs players also scored 10 or more points, led by Jordan Nuness with 13. Their leading scorer, Bryan Foss, was held to nine points, but led the team with seven boards.
South Dakota 70, North Dakota 54
Vermillion, S.D. -- South Dakota notched its ninth-straight victory by outscoring North Dakota by 15 points in the second half en route to a 70-54 win in front of 3,457 in the DakotaDome.
Eric Hall led all scorers with 22 points on the evening, which was his second consecutive 20-point effort. Dylan Grimsley added 13 points, including making 7-of-8 attempts from the free throw line, along with hauling in a game-high seven rebounds while playing 39 minutes. Tyler Cain and Dustin Little each went for 11 points and three steals.
North Dakota had only one player reach double-digits in scoring, that being junior guard Ervin Youmans with 18 points. Youmans also tied for the team-high with five rebounds.
UND entered the game with the best field goal percentage in the NCC, but the South Dakota defense limited the visitors to just 40.8% shooting (20-of-49). The Coyotes made 8-of-20 three-point attempts (40.0%) while holding North Dakota to just 2-of-8 (25.0%) from beyond the arc. South Dakota also forced UND into twice as many turnovers as it committed (22-to-11).
USD jumped out to a quick 10-4 lead over the first 4:43 of play. However, North Dakota responded with a 10-0 run to hold a 14-10 advantage with 12:27 left on the clock in the first half. UND would lead throughout most of the first half, but the Coyotes were able to end the first half with a 10-2 run to take a slim 27-26 lead into halftime.
North Dakota came out of the locker room with a strong 8-2 rush to take its largest lead of the second half with 15:42 remaining, holding a 34-29 advantage. However, UND was unable to withstand a Coyote surge that started with a 14-3 run capped by a jumper by Hall to give USD a 48-39 lead with 9:52 left on the clock. South Dakota did not trail the rest of the way as they later strung together a 15-3 run to lead by as much as 18 before settling in for the 18 point victory.
St. Cloud State 81, Augustana 76
Sioux Falls, S.D. -- St. Cloud State took advantage of its 3-point shooting in defeating Augustana at the Sioux Falls Arena.
The Huskies made 14 of 30 3-pointers to offset the fact that Augustana made more overall field goals (30-26).
Adam Sullivan did most of the damage for SCSU, draining 6 of 9 shots from behind the arc as he finished with a team-high 21 points.
St. Cloud State led most of the game until the Vikings made a run in the final 15 minutes. Trailing 51-47, the Vikings reeled off 7 unanswered points to take a 54-51 lead, its first lead since the opening minute when they led 3-0, with 12:45 left in the game.
But St. Cloud State answered with 9 straight points to regain a 60-54 advantage with 10:18 on the clock.
The Huskies increased their lead to 74-65 with 3:33 remaining, but Augie had one final charge. Sullivan was whistled for a technical foul with 2:47 left and Augie's Marques Blank made both free throws. On the ensuing possession, Eric Krogman converted a basket to trim the lead to 74-69 with 2:22 on the clock.
But Sullivan responded with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 77-68 with 2:05 to play. Krogman followed with a 3-pointer of his own and Blank added 2 more free throws to make it a 77-74 game with 1:20 to play.
SCSU's David Dreas then made 2 free throws, followed by a basket by the Vikings' Nick Olson to make the score 79-76 with 42.8 seconds remaining.
Dreas then made 1 of 2 free throws with 29.7 left, but on the Vikings' next possession, Joey Ryan missed a 3-point attempt and Sullivan grabbed the rebound for the Huskies, securing the road victory.
Olson led all scorers with 23 points, while Krogman matched his career highs in points and rebounds with 16 points and 9 boards. Tom VerDouw added a season-high 15 points off the bench for the Vikings.
Four other Huskies joined Sullivan in double figures. Dreas tallied 19 points, while Matt Schneck added 13. Kelly Byrne and Eric Greene scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.
The Vikings actually outshot the Huskies. Augustana made 49.2
percent (30 of 61) of its shots, while SCSU shot 48.1 percent (26
of 54). But the difference was at the 3-point line. The Huskies
were 14 of 30 (46.7 percent), while the Vikings were 4 of 15 (26.7
percent).