BOX SCORE

MARSHALL, Minn. – St. Cloud State used a late second half rally to pick up a 71-69 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Friday night.

SCSU (10-2, 6-2 NSIC) took its first lead of the night with five minutes and 28 seconds left in the game and held off a late SMSU (7-8, 4-4 NSIC) rally to snap a three-game losing streak to SMSU.

Theo Rothstein led a balanced scoring attack for SCSU scoring a team-high 14 points, with 12 coming in the second half.  SCSU, after shooting just 30 percent in the opening half, shot 52 percent in the final 20 minutes and committed just nine turnovers in the game.

SMSU shot 50 percent (27 of 54) for the game and held a 38-29 rebound advantage, but the Mustangs committed 16 turnovers, leading to a 19-9 scoring advantage for the Huskies off of turnovers.

Nick Smith paced SMSU with 20 points, tying a season-high, while also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.  Vinard Birch and Jordan Miller each scored 13 points, while Matt Zager chipped in with 12 points.

St. Cloud State made clutch plays in the final seven minutes to rally from a 55-50 deficit.  Rothstein capped a 6-0 run to give the Huskies their first lead at the 5:28 mark, before the teams traded back-to-back 3-pointers in the next 90 seconds to keep SCSU in the lead with four minutes remaining.

Smith scored with 3:48 remaining to give SMSU a 63-62 lead, but SCSU regained the lead moments later on a pair of Rothstein free throws with 3:26 left in the game.

SMSU missed a field goal on its next possession and SCSU answered with a basket by Shaun Jensen to make the score 66-63 at the 2:42 mark.  Following a missed shot by Zager on the next SMSU possession, Jensen completed a 3-point play to give SCSU its largest lead of the game at 69-63 with 1:52 remaining.

SMSU wouldn't go away and used a pair of Birch free throws and a layup by Zager to trim the lead to 69-67 with 57 seconds remaining.

SCSU was called for an offensive foul on its next possession, giving SMSU a chance to tie or take the lead.  With less than 10 seconds remaining, Birch missed a layup with Smith tipping in the rebound, but he was called for an offensive goaltending with eight seconds left, giving the ball back to SCSU.  Jensen then sealed the victory for SCSU with two free throws.

SMSU never trailed in the opening half, quickly building a 7-0 lead behind a pair of baskets by Nick Smith and a 3-pointer by Jordan Miller.

SCSU scored seven straight points to cut the SMSU lead to 9-7 with 13 minutes and 55 seconds left, but SMSU answered with its mini-run to extend the margin to 14-7 with 11 minutes left in the half.

The Huskies tied the game at the 8:14 mark using a 5-0 run, but SMSU countered with a 9-2 run to build a 27-20 lead, before eventually taking a 32-27 halftime advantage.

SMSU held SCSU to just 30 percent (9 of 30) shooting in the opening half and held a 21-16 rebound advantage.  SMSU shot 46 percent (11 of 24) in the half, but committed nine turnovers.

Southwest Minnesota State wraps-up the home weekend tomorrow taking on Minnesota Duluth (4-8, 2-6 NSIC) with tip-off set for 7 p.m.