Mavericks defeat Huskies, 79-62
The winning streak continues for the Minnesota State Maverick men’s basketball team, as they defeated the St. Cloud State Huskies this past Saturday. With it being their third-consecutive weekend on the road, the Mavericks made easy work of the Huskies to extend their winning streak to three games, putting their record at 4-1 on the year.
Minnesota State showed off the depth they have on this year’s squad as seven different Mavs put points on the board to start off their run. Minnesota State’s Jon Fuqua drained a free throw just under five minutes into the game to put the Mavericks up by one. From that point, the Mavericks never looked back. Just over twelve minutes into the first half, MSU’s Trey Sampson drilled one from deep to extend the lead into the double-digits.
St. Cloud’s Kurt Hall supplied four points and an assist to bring the lead back down to single digits, but Minnesota State’s attack did not slow down. Fuqua nailed two free throws and Cole Harper hit a layup followed by an and-one to give the Mavericks a 13-point lead with a minute to go in the half. When the guys walked into the locker room, that 13-point lead was sustained with a 34-21 score.
Fuqua led the team in the first half with six points and five rebounds, while Harper was close behind with five points and four rebounds. St. Cloud’s Hall had seven points and seven rebounds in his 12 minutes.
Coming out of the half, Minnesota State showed no intentions of letting upon the Huskies as Harper continued his scoring attack and Fuqua split free throws followed by a successful jumper to give the Mavs a 14-point lead. St. Cloud tried to follow that with a three-pointer, but missed and the Mavs took it to the other end where Joey Witthus drained a three-pointer to put the Mavericks up 42-25, two minutes into the second half. The 17-point lead was the largest lead in the game up to that point.
Minnesota State built that lead up to 18 before St. Cloud started to chip away. With 12:51 left in the game, St. Cloud State’s Trevon Marshall hit a layup that brought the lead down to 10 and Brindley Theisen made a layup of his own to bring the lead down to eight points. Theisen sunk a free throw shortly after to get within seven, but it was the closest St. Cloud State would get the rest of the game.
Two minutes later, Fuqua scored four more points, nabbed a steal, and grabbed a rebound which resulted in in a made basket from forward AJ Patty which helped get Minnesota State’s lead back up to 14. With just under five minutes left, MSU’s Charlie Brown nailed two three-pointers back-to-back which essentially solidified the win. St. Cloud State would not get the lead back within double-digits again and Minnesota State won 79-62.
Minnesota State will be hitting the road once again as they will play their sixth and seventh consecutive road games of the year. The Mavericks will take on Wayne State on Friday in Wayne, Nebraska and Augustana on Saturday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.