Men’s basketball breezes by Concordia-St Paul
The Mavericks defeated the Golden Bears handedly on Saturday, 91-72, at the Taylor Center
Aaron Young
Staff Writer
This past Saturday night, the Mavericks men’s basketball beat the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears in decisive fashion, 91-72.
After five games of non-conference play, the Mavs began their conference play on the right step. They are now 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
In the first half, all the momentum seemed to be on the Mavericks’ side. The squad started out strong, shooting to a 25-10 lead as the Golden Bears did all they could to lessen the margin.
Concordia managed to come back for a sliver of time before the Maverick stampede happened, which resulted in a 54-36 lead to end the first half after a timeout by the Bears.
Junior guard Juwan McCloud was torching the Golden Bears defense early on with 8 points and followed up with a heat check later in the half, draining two back to back threes. McCloud barely missed the 20-point mark with 19 points.
The second half was a different story. A closely contested game as the Bears came out clawing their way to a comeback. It was too late though. With the score at 62-47, the Mavericks stormed their way back to a demanding 20-point lead.
For the remainder of the half, the Mavericks bench showcased what they were made of. After 30 minutes of competition, Minnesota State finished strong and the game ended, showing promise for the Minnesota State men’s basketball team going into conference play.
McCloud had 24 points, 9 of them coming from 3-pointers.
Freshman guard Tre Baumgardner was right behind him with 18 and was perfect at the free throw line, while senior guard Carlos Anderson added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals.
Junior guard Kevin Krieger led the team in boards with 12 and had 7 points of his own.
Redshirt freshman Jake Guse swatted 3 balls away, while junior forward Carter Asche recorded a block of his own.
Next up for the men’s basketball team is a date with Southwest Minnesota State this Friday at 7 p.m.
Last year, the Mustangs were a challenge for the Mavericks. The Mavs won the series 2-1 but their victories were 72-70 and 74-70. However, at SMSU, they lost 82-70, meaning this game is a chance for the Mavericks to redeem the loss. Tune in this Friday and root for the Mavericks as the team looks to start out conference play 2-0.
Feature photo by Samuel Oluwadoromi | MSU Reporter.