St. Cloud, Minn. –   The St. Cloud State University men’s basketball team defeated 12^th-ranked Winona State University 79-78 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) action Friday night at  Halenbeck Hall.

The Huskies improved to 17-4 overall and 13-4 in the NSIC. Winona State is 20-4 overall and 14-3 in the NSIC. The win ended a seven-game losing streak to the Warriors. The last time SCSU beat Winona State was in the semifinals of the 2009 NSIC Tournament on the Warriors court.

All five Husky starters scored in double figures in the game and senior guard Shaun Jensen (Spring Lake Park) posted his second double double of the season, finishing the game with 14 points and ten assists. Jensen had an 11-point, ten assist night against Minnesota Duluth back on Dec. 1 in the NSIC opener.

St. Cloud State was led in scoring by senior forward Theo Rothstein (St. Michael) with 19 points, including four three-point baskets.

Sophomore forward Connor Niehaus (Fremont, Neb.) had 15 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Kevin Levandoski (Appleton, Wis.), in his second start of the season score 12 points, had seven rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Damarius Cruz (Robbinsdale) knocked down 12 points.

St. Cloud State shot 46.8 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. The Huskies held their turnovers to nine and made 11 of 15 free throw attempts.

Winona State was led by senior center Clayton Vette with a game high 28 points and nine rebounds.  Taylor Cameron added 15 points and nine rebounds and Xavier Humphrey had 11 points.

The Warriors shot 49 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from beyond the arc. WSU made 21 of 24 free throw attempts, committed 19 turnovers, and out rebounded the Huskies 37-25.

Winona State led by ten points, 27-17 with 5:46 left in the first half following a Humphrey free throw. The Huskies trailed 33-29 at half time.

A three by Rothstein capped a 14-2 start to the second half and gave the Huskies a 43-35 lead three minutes in. Another three by Rothstein and the Huskies had a 68-58 lead with 4:36 left in the game.

Winona State worked their way back and with :38 seconds left cut the Husky lead to 74-72 on a Cameron Taylor three.  The Huskies’ Cruz and Jensen combined to make five of six free throw attempts in the final 25 seconds of the game and SCSU led 79-75 when Grant Johnson hit a half court shot as time ran out to determine the final score.