Men's Basketball Report: February 17
Nebraska-Omaha 52, North Dakota 50
Omaha, Neb. -- Despite hitting only one third of its shots, Nebraska-Omaha survived a physical battle with North Dakota, taking a 52-50 victory at Sapp Fieldhouse.
Michael Jenkins led the Mavericks with 19 points, adding six rebounds and two assists. Zac Robinson added 12.
The score stood tied at 23-23 at halftime, as neither team could find an offensive rhythm. The Mavs hit only 31.3 percent of their shot attempts, while the Sioux shot 38.1 percent. Six offensive rebounds helped UNO attempt 11 more shots, allowing them to keep the score even.
North Dakota warmed up to open the second half, gradually building a seven-point lead with nine minutes remaining. Two free throws by Robinson started a rally with 5:16 left. A steal and layup by Matt Newman, then Robinson's only 3-pointer of the game tied the score with 3:39 left, at 46-46.
UNO got four more points from Jenkins and two from Robinson in the final minutes, and a key blocked shot by Jerry Bennett helped the Mavs hang on for a critical win.
Minnesota Duluth 83, South Dakota 75
Vermillion, S.D. -- South Dakota saw its DakotaDome North Central Conference winning streak that dated back to the 2004-05 season come to an end at 15 games after Minnesota Duluth upset the league-leaders by an 83-75 margin in USD's 2006-07 regular season home finale.
USD featured two players that recorded double-doubles on the game, led by Dylan Grimsley leading the team with 22 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Steve Smith notched his second double-double of the year with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Eric Hall added 20 points, including making 5-of-9 three-point attempts, and four assists. Grimsley, Smith and Hall each shot 7-of-12 overall from the floor.
Jesse Becker came off the bench to add 10 points while dishing out a game-high seven assists.
The Bulldogs were led in scoring by senior swingman Bryan Foss' 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting. Foss also led UMD with six rebounds and six assists. Junior post John Vaudreuil and junior guard Jordan Nuness each contributed 18 points for Minnesota Duluth.
St. Cloud State 85, Augustana 80
St. Cloud, Minn. -- St. Cloud State defeated Augustana 85-80 in action in Halenbeck Hall.
Augustana controlled the tempo of the game of the first 34 minutes of the game, leading for most of the first half until the Huskies scored on a three-point basket to tie the game 30-30 at the half. The Vikings quickly took a five point lead early in the second half on back to back baskets by Joey Ryan. With seven minutes left in the second half SCSU's Adam Sullivan went on a scoring streak, hitting for 11 points in a three and a half minute span, and the Huskies took a 69-65 lead at 4:30. SCSU increased the lead to ten three times in the final 2:42 and led 85-74 at the :26 second mark. Three point baskets by Marques Blank and Joey Ryan produced the final score of 85-80.
Sullivan led all players with 21 points, including four of seven shooting from the three-point line. He also had a team high seven rebounds. Dusty Wabiszewski provided the spark off the bench with 16 points and a game-high six assists. David Dreas added 15 points and Eric Bergstrom knocked down 12 points.
The Huskies shot 50 percent from the field, including 59.3 percent in the second half and 47.l6 percent from three-point range. Augustana held the advantage on the boards with 40 rebounds to the Huskies' 30.
Augustana had five players score in double figures, led by
Marques Blank with 16 points. Joey Ryan tossed in 14 points, Matt
Paulson 12 points, Nick Olson 11 and Ian Thomas ten points. Eric
Krogman led all players with eight rebounds.