Men's Basketball Report: January 27
South Dakota 68, Minnesota Duluth 62
St. Cloud, Minn. -- St. Cloud State co-captains David Dreas and Adam Sullivan combined for 45 points to lead the Huskies to a 76-67 victory over Nebraska-Omaha at Halenbeck Hall.
Dreas led all scorers with 23 points. He made three-of-five from three-point range and had a game-high seven assists. Sullivan scored 22 points and connected on six of 11 from three-point range, tying his career high for three-point baskets. Eric Bergstrom also scored in double figures with ten points. Craig Coenen led the Huskies with nine rebounds. The Huskies shot 40.4 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from three-point range.
The Mavericks were led by Zac Robinson with 20 points. Michael Jenkins added 19 points, including ten of ten shooting from the free throw line. Denny Johnston knocked in 12 points and pulled in seven rebounds. UNO shot 35.2 percent from the field.
After a 7-2 Husky start, UNO worked its way into a 13-10 first half lead at 13:25 on a Zac Robinson three-point basket. The Mavericks maintained a lead and went ahead by nine 22-13 on two Michael Jenkins free throws with 6:59 remaining. The Huskies closed the gap to four points four times and UNO led by seven at the 3:08 mark. A Dreas three-point basket followed by a Sullivan basket drew the Huskies to 31-29. At 2:03 Robinson nailed a three-pointer and UNO led 34-29. A basket by Dreas followed by a three-point Sullivan bucket tied the game at 34. Dreas gave the Huskies a 36-36 half time lead with two free throws with one second on the clock.
Nebraska-Omaha scored the first three points of the second half and led 37-36 at 18:55. That would be the last lead of the game for the Mavericks as the Huskies increased the lead to 11 at the midway point of the second half, 56-45. A 20-11 run by UNO brought the Mavericks to within two at the 2:18 mark when Robinson nailed a three-point basket. Dreas answered with a three and the Huskies made six of six free throws in the final :43 seconds for the win.
Augustana 67, North Dakota 59
Sioux Falls, S.D. -- Augustana relied on its seniors - Nick Olson and Joey Ryan - to upend North Dakota 67-59 at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Olson scored a team-high 19 points, including six key free throws in the final 36 seconds, while Joey Ryan scored nine of his 15 points in the first half to help the Vikings snap a three-game losing streak.
Augustana never trailed in the contest, but the Vikings could never put away the Fighting Sioux. In the first half it looked like Augie might run away from UND. Leading 9-7 with 15:20 left in the half, Augustana went on a 16-4 run to open its largest lead of the game, 25-11, with 6:50 to play in the period. Ryan spearheaded the charge with 6 points. However, Augustana did not score in the final 4:10 of the half, enabling UND to close the gap to 30-22 at intermission.
Augustana led by as many as 9 points early in the second half before UND rallied to tie the score at 40-40 with 10 minutes to play and 53-53 with 4:05 remaining.
The Vikings led 57-56 and had the ball with under a minute to play. Ryan drove the lane and put up a running jumper. The shot rimmed out, but Matt Paulson followed with a dunk to put the Vikings ahead 59-56 with 50.1 on the clock.
North Dakota failed to score on its next 2 possessions, and each time Olson collected the rebound. He calmly made all 4 free throws, and later added 2 more with 17.6 seconds left to secure the win.
Marques Blank was the third Viking in double figures with 11 points.
Ervin Youmans led North Dakota with 19 points, while Emmanuel Little recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Augustana outshot the Fighting Sioux, connecting on 43 percent (21 of 49) of its field goals. The Vikings also took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line, making 21 of 23 charity tosses.
North Dakota meanwhile, shot 41 percent (22 of 54) from the field and was only 7 of 17 (41 percent) from the free throw line.
Minnesota State 91, South Dakota 78 (OT)
Mankato, Minn. -- The two last undefeated teams in North Central Conferencemen's basketball competition carried combined winning streaks of 28 games into a league match-up Saturday night in Taylor Center on the campus of Minnesota State University, but the Mavericks were able to rally from a double-digit second half deficit to edge tSouth Dakota 91-87 in overtime. The Coyotes saw their 11-game winning streak - tied for the seventh-longest in school history.
The game was played in front of 4,477 spectators, which is the second-largest crowd in arena history.
Eric Hall and Dylan Grimsley tied for the team lead in scoring with 22 points apiece. Steve Smith added 13 points and seven rebounds while blocking two shots. Also blocking two shots was Tyler Cain, who led the Coyotes with eight rebounds. Dustin Little poured in 12 points while grabbing six rebounds.
The entire Maverick starting five reached double-digits in scoring, led by Tony Thomason's 23 points along with dishing out six assists. Paris Kyles and Luke Anderson each added 18 points for MSU.
South Dakota shot 50.0% from the field (34-of-68) while holding the Mavericks to 47.0% shooting (31-of-66). USD enjoyed a 38-34 advantage on the glass, but only got 18 chances at the line compared to 26 for MSU.
USD was in the driver's seat with 49.6 seconds remaining when Hall connected on both ends of a one-and-one, but Minnesota State's Thomason connected on an off-balance jumper from 15-feet out to even the score at 77-77 with 39.5 left. South Dakota was unable to convert on its final possession of the second half, and the two squads went into overtime.
The Mavericks scored on the opening possession of overtime to take their first lead since 9:50 remained in the first half. USD responded with scores on its next two possessions to regain the lead with 81-79 with 3:50 left on the clock. However, that proved to be the final Coyote advantage of the evening as Minnesota State responded with a quick 4-0 run to go ahead 83-81 at the 3:06 mark.
South Dakota evened the score at 83-83 nearly two minutes later on a leaning jumper by Hall. On the ensuing possession though, Minnesota State went ahead for good as Thomason drilled a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down to go ahead 86-85.
Smith followed with a leaner of his own to close
within one point with 38.1 seconds left on the clock, but the
Coyotes were essentially forced to foul and Thomason sank both of
his free throw attempts to make it a three-point game with 33.4 to
go. USD was unable to score until a put-back by Grimsley made the
score 89-87 with just 1.7 left on the clock, but there was not
enough time left for the Coyotes to complete the rally as the
Mavericks escaped with the victory.