Box Score St. Cloud, Minn. --- It went right down to the wire, but the eighth-rated Minnesota State men’s basketball team withstood St. Cloud State’s second half surge as it downed the Huskies 81-75 for its first win at Halenbeck Hall since the 2007-08 season.

With the win, MSU improves to 14-1 and 10-1 in NSIC play, while SCSU falls to 12-3, with an 8-3 mark in league play.

MSU’s five starters carried the load offensively as they accounted for 77 of Minnesota State’s 81 points on the evening. Senior Jarvis Williams did the most damaged as he dropped in a game-high 22 points, while sophomore Assem Marei added 20 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double double of the season.

Sophomore Zach Monaghan added 14 points and a game-high eight assists, while junior Connor O’Brien notched 11 points. Junior Gage Wooten also posted double figures with 10 points, to go along with seven rebounds.

With 16:45 remaining in the second half MSU built its largest lead of the night at 50-34. The Mavericks would maintain a double-digit lead for a while, but the Huskies finally came within seven at 66-59 with 6:39 remaining.

SCSU continued to gain on the Mavericks and eventually took its first lead of the game at 69-67 with 3:57 left in the game. A three pointer from Monaghan and a pair of buckets from Marei gave MSU lead back and it would not relinquish it the rest of the way as it closed out the game with an 81-75 win.

Shaun Jensen and Damarius Cruz led SCSU with 18 points each, while Connor Niehaus and Jordan Poydras notched 10 points each.   

The Mavericks came out strong early in the first half as they built an 11-1 lead. SCSU was able to knot it up at 15 with 11:34 left in the first half, but MSU finish the half on a 23-15 run to take a 38-30 lead into the locker room.

Williams led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, while Monaghan posted 10 points and four helpers. Marei notched seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in the first half as well.

Tim Bergstraser and Cruz led the Huskies in scoring with seven points each in the first half.

MSU wraps up its road trip Saturday as it takes on the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. The opening tip is set for 6 pm.
                                                                                  
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