St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud State University men’s basketball team won the North Division title of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Saturday night with a 78-62 win over Northern State University on the Huskies home court.
The Huskies won the division with two games remaining and a three-game lead. St. Cloud State will host a first round game of the NSIC tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 27 and play the #8 seed from the South division. This is the first year of North/South divisional play in the NSIC.
St. Cloud State improved to 19-5 overall and 15-5 in the NSIC. Northern State dropped to 17-10 overall and 12-7 in league play.
Junior guard Damarius Cruz (Robbinsdale) led all players with 22 points in the game. He equaled his career high with six three-point baskets. He finished with four steals and two assists.
After missing a double double by one rebound on Friday night, sophomore center James Fort (South Haven) claimed the first of his collegiate career with 12 points and 11 rebounds to complete an impressive weekend. His line score included two blocks and two steals, six of eight shooting from the free throw line and three of six shooting from the field.
Sophomore forward Connor Niehaus (Fremont, Neb.) added 14 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort. Senior guard Shaun Jensen (Spring Lake Park) had seven points and seven assists.
St. Cloud State shot 46.6 percent from the field and 55 percent from three-point range, making 11 of 20 attempts. The Huskies outrebounded Northern State 37-26.
Northern State was led by Collin Pryor’s 20-point performance. Jared Hannigan added 15 points. Dustin Tetzlaff had eight rebounds for the Wolves. NSU shot 46.2 percent from the field and committed 19 turnovers.
The two teams played a closely contested first half as Northern held a four-point lead five minutes into the game. The Huskies took the lead for good at the 7:41 mark of the first half on a three-point basket by first year guard Jordan Poydras (DePere, Wis.) to take a 22-21 lead. St. Cloud State led 33-27 at the half.
The Huskies opened the second half with a Connor Niehaus three and expanded the lead to 19 points with 1:27 left in the game.
St. Cloud State will finish the regular season on the road next weekend with games at Minnesota, Crookston on Friday and Bemidji State on Saturday.
The Huskies honored their three seniors in a ceremony prior to the start of the game. Shaun Jensen, and forwards Theo Rothstein (St. Michael) and Scott Hawkins (New Ulm) were recognized for their outstanding Husky careers. Jensen played in his 100th career game tonight and is a two-year starter. Rothstein, a three-year starter has played in 121 career games and is a member of the 1,000 point club. Hawkins has filled the role of a three-point shooter and has played in 69 career games.