BOX SCORE
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Taylor Witt hit two free throws with 2.3 seconds left to lift No. 2 seed St. Cloud State to a thrilling 68-67 victory over No. 8 seed Southwest Minnesota State in the championship game of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament on Sunday afternoon in St. Cloud, Minn.
It's the second straight NSIC tournament championship for SCSU, while SMSU falls to 0-4 all-time in NSIC championship games.
In a game that featured 19 lead changes and eight ties, SMSU's Scott Roehl gave SMSU a 67-66 lead, hitting two free throws with 7.9 seconds left in the game. Following a timeout, Witt caught the inbounds pass and drove the length of the court before drawing a foul near the free throw line.
SCSU, which began the week ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA region rankings, improves to 25-5 overall.
SMSU falls to 17-12 overall and will wait to see if they will qualify for next week's NCAA tournament. The Mustangs were not ranked in this week's region rankings, but are hoping that its two victories this week in the tournament and its strong play in the last month will be enough. SMSU has lost just four times since Jan. 23, with one loss in triple overtime, a pair to St. Cloud State and one to the region's top-ranked team Minnesota State.
Matt Schneck, the tournament's most valuable player, led SCSU with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Witt added 18 points.
DeAnthony Zanders led SMSU with a career-high 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting, while Kevin Andrews added 15 points and six rebounds. Scott Roehl chipped in with 14 points and eight rebounds to round out the Mustang double-figure scoring.
Both Zanders and Andrews were named to the all-tournament team.
SMSU started the game slow taking a quick 2-0 lead, before SCSU answered with 13 straight points to build a 13-2 lead with 14:17 left in the half. SMSU missed seven of its first eight shots from the field to start the game.
The Mustangs answered with a 12-4 run in the next four minutes to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 10:25 left in the half following a traditional three-point play by Nick Dale.
St. Cloud State countered with five straight points to end the SMSU run and eventually extended the lead to 32-22 with 2:03 on the clock before SMSU closed the half on a huge 9-0 run in the final two minutes.
Scott Roehl and Jordan Miller scored consecutive baskets to make it 32-26 with just over a minute remaining, before Andrew Peschong drilled two free throws with 52 seconds left to trim the SCSU lead to 32-28. Following another defensive stop by the SMSU defense, Kevin Andrews drilled his third 3-pointer of the half in the closing seconds to cut the SCSU lead to 32-31 at halftime.
SCSU started the second half strong jumping out on an 11-4 run to take a 43-35 lead with 16:12 left in the game. SMSU then answered with its largest run of the game, a 10-0 spurt in the next six minutes to take its first lead of the half at 45-43 with 10:20 remaining on a jumper by Roehl.
The lead then changed hands several times in the final 10 minutes, with the Mustangs taking their largest lead of the half at three points on two occasions, including 57-54 with 3:46 left on a field goal by Andrews.
SCSU held a one-point lead with under two minutes remaining in the game until Zanders hit two free throws with 1:40 to give the Mustangs a 63-62 lead. Following a SCSU field goal with 1:06 left, Zanders hit another basket with 45 seconds remaining to push SMSU back into the lead at 65-64, but again, SCSU had an answer as Andrew Bernstetter drilled a jumper with 32 seconds on the clock to give the Huskies a 66-65 advantage.
On the next SMSU possession, Zanders missed a jumper with 10 seconds remaining, by Roehl grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 7.9 seconds left and eventually made both free throws to give the Mustangs their last lead of the game.
SMSU finished the game shooting 47.2 percent (25 of 53) from the field, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range and held a 35-31 rebound advantage, but ended with just five offensive rebounds. SCSU ended the game shooting 36.2 percent (21 of 58) from the field, including 6 of 20 on 3-pointers. The Huskies committed just five turnovers in the game, while the Mustangs ended the game with 13 turnovers.
If SMSU is not selected for the NCAA tournament, it will be the final game for Mustang seniors Kevin Andrews, Nick Dale, DeAnthony Zanders, Andrew Peschong and Jon DeRock.
