MEN'S BASKETBALL: Ranked St. Cloud State hold off Bemidji State 68-60
ST. CLOUD – The Bemidji State men’s basketball game led St. Cloud State for much of the way during their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game here Friday night.
But a late 11-2 run by the No. 14-ranked Huskies helped them pull away from the Beavers and hand BSU its first conference loss of the season, 68-60.
BSU (3-3, 1-1 NSIC) led nearly the whole way, including a 38-30 halftime lead. The Beavers les by as many as nine points in the second half, but the Huskies (5-0, 2-0) started to heat up midway through the frame.
A 6-0 run cut the Beavers’ lead to 49-46 with 11:30 to go. BSU worked its lead back up to five points with two foul shots by Mason Walters, but the Huskies responded with a 3-pointer by Connor Niehaus and then a steal and a layup from Damarius Cruz to tie things up at 51-51 with 9:50 to go.
The Beavers went up by five again with a three-point play from Lance Rongstad and a pair of foul shots from Maxie Rosenbloom, making it 56-51.
But that was the last push BSU made.
The Huskies scored four quick points to cut the lead to 56-55 with 6:36 remaining, then took their first lead of the game on another 3-pointer from Niehaus to make it 58-56.
From there, the momentum swung completely in the Huskies’ favor. They went on a 10-4 run to close out the game for the win.
Walters led the way for BSU with 17 points and 11 rebounds for a double double, while Dremaine Crockrell was the other Beaver in double figures with 14.
Four Huskies scored in double figures. Shaun Jensen led the way with 21, while Kevin Levandoski had 13, Theo Rothstien 11 and Jordan Poydras 10.
BSU shot 23-for-59 (39 percent) for the game after going 15-for-30 (50 percent) in the first half. The Beavers were also held to 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Beavers return to the court at 8 p.m. tonight where they’ll take on former head coach Matt Bowen and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in another NSIC matchup.
St. Cloud State 68, Bemidji State 60
Bemidji State (60) – Walters 7-10 2-2 17; Crockrell 6-18 0-2 14; Rosenbloom 2-4 3-4 7; Rongstad 2-6 2-3 7; Noreen 3-5 0-0 6; Anderson 1-7 2-3 4; Edwards 1-4 0-0 3; Farrington 1-3 0-0 2; Schalow 0-1 0-0 0; Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 9-14 60.
St. Cloud State (68) – Jensen 8-15 4-4 21; Levandoski 5-11 3-4 13; Rothstein 4-7 3-8 11; Poydras 2-7 6-6 10; Niehaus 2-4 0-0 6; Brown 1-1 1-2 3; Larson 1-3 0-0 2; Cruz 1-3 0-0 2; Fort 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 17-24 68.
Halftime Score – Bemidji State 38, St. Cloud State 30
