Men's Basketball Release: January 6
St. Cloud State 86, Minnesota Duluth 79
Duluth, Minn. -- Minnesota Duluth came up short in their bid to knock off St. Cloud State in Romano Gymnasium, falling 86-79 before 1,371 hometown faithful.
Both teams came out firing strong, with UMD tossing in 60 percent of everything they launched from the field, and St. Cloud responding in kind with 59.3 percent from the field. The Bulldogs led by a half-high of four (19-15) at the 12:40 mark before the Huskies rallied with a three minute 16-4 run that handed them a 27-19 lead. UMD would cut into that lead before holding tight to a 42-40 advantage at halftime.
The second half would feature a physical component that sent bodies flying all 20 minutes long. After ten minutes of play, the Bulldogs led by a single point (56-55) for all their effort, but it was a lead that would remain short lived in the flurried action. The two teams had deadlocked for an exhausting 15th time at 71-71 with just 2:45 remaining in the game.
The Huskies, who were still firing a red-hot 59.6 percent from the floor with under two minutes remaining, used a 8-1 run to create distance from the Bulldogs with 1:09 left in regulation. Two short Jordan Nuness 3-point attempts later, UMD was looking down the barrel of a 79-72 deficit, when a Bryan Foss three dropped the spread to 79-75 with 35.9 ticks left on the clock.
The Bulldogs would come no closer after St. Cloud hit two free throws, and despite a late lay-up from Brian St. Peter with 26 seconds left, a UMD technical foul would lock the game in for the Huskies when they hit four consecutive shots from the charity stripe, and knocked down 5-of-6 in the last 15 seconds of play.
John Vaudreuil led the Bulldogs with 19 points, while Foss and Nuness each added 17 in the effort. Nuness tied a career-high with six rebounds on the afternoon.
St. Cloud was led from the floor with a game-high 22 points from junior David Dreas. Three other Huskies tallied double-figures in scoring, including a 20-point effort from Eric Bergstrom.
South Dakota 69, Augustana 57
Vermillion, S.D. -- South Dakota used a 12-0 run to start the contest to propel itself to a 69-57 North Central Conference victory over Augustana. The game was played in front of a season-high 4,968 fans in the DakotaDome in what was USD's first league game of the year.
Two South Dakota players shared the feat of notching the first double-double of their respective careers tonight, with Eric Hall leading the way with 25 points and tying a career-high with 11 rebounds. Steve Smith was the second Coyote to record a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards, which tied his season-best effort.
Dylan Grimsley also reached double digits in scoring for USD with 14 points,
Joey Ryan was the lone Augustana player to reach double-digits in scoring with 16 points on the night. Nick Olson had a Viking-high seven rebounds along with seven points.
South Dakota held the Vikings to just 31.3% shooting from the floor during the course of the game (20-of-64), including a mere 19.2% in the first half alone (5-of-26). The Coyotes were even stingier on their perimeter defense by limiting Augie to 17.4% shooting from three-point range (4-of-23), and just 14.3% in the second half (2-of-14).
Minnesota State 92, North Dakota 91
Grand Forks, N.D. -Minnesota State proved too much for North Dakota at Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Mavericks downed the Sioux 92-91 in front of 2,398 fans.
Trailing 54-40 with 17 minutes remaining in the second half, the Sioux cut the lead to two points on seperate occasions.
Emmanuel Little scored two of his game-high 28 points to cut the Maverick lead to 59-57 lead with 10:28 remaining in the game. Jake Morrow pushed the lead back to 61-57, hitting two free throws on his next possession.
Ervin Youmans and the Sioux responded on UND's next possession, however. Youmans drove to the hoop and scored two of his 23 points to pull the Sioux back within 61-59.
But Minnesota State was too much for the Sioux. Luke Anderson hit a jumper. Then after a UND turnover, Paris Kyles scored a lay-up in the paint on the Mavericks' next possession. Minnesota State was in control from there.
The Mavericks had five players score in double digit figures. Tony Thomason led the way with 20 points. Kyles had 19, Luke Anderson and Atila Santos each had 18, and Morrow scored 12.
The Sioux made it close in the final 10 seconds. UND trailed by 92-85 with nine seconds remaining, after Thomason hit two free throws. Youmans drilled a three-pointer to pull the Sioux within three points. Then after a foul and two missed free throws by Kyles, Harry Boyce nailed a half-courter in the final second for the final score. Boyce ended with 15 points.
Little once again had a great night for the
Sioux. He went 10-of-13 from the field and made all seven of his
free throws. His 28 points are a career-high at UND. Youmans' 23
points were also a career-high.