Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State Wolves led for all but the first 44 seconds of the night and the last nine seconds of regulation Friday night, but the St. Cloud State Huskies held the final straw, rallying from as many as five down in the final 17 seconds to take an 87-83 overtime win over the Wolves Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference basketball action.
 
The loss, the fifth straight for the Wolves but just the fourth at home on the year, dropped NSU to 12-12 overall, 8-12 in league play and into a tie for eighth with Concordia-St. Paul.  The Golden Bears come to town on Saturday for a critical NSIC showdown and re-match of the NSIC opener for both teams, as both teams are vying for the eighth and final spot in the NSIC tournament.
 
SCSU, which had lost three of its last five heading into the weekend, improves to 19-5 overall and 15-5 in the loop.  The Huskies took over the NSIC lead earlier in the week following the NSIC's decision to nullify 13 games by Winona State due to a player eligibility issue.  The Huskies have already clinched home court advantage for the coming NSIC tournament.
 
Led by 17-point efforts from junior forwards Collin Pryor and Dustin Tetzlaff, the Wolves held the upper hand for the majority of the game and held a 73-67 lead with under 30 seconds left in the game.  At that point, the Huskies came up with a big steal and even bigger three-pointer from Theo Rothstein to cut the NSU lead to three.
 
The Wolves traded free throws with the Huskies, sinking four from the line to SCSU's two to keep it a five-point NSU lead with 17 seconds left in the game.  SCSU's Kevin Levondoski, who averaged just 1.2 points per game and was 3-of-20 from long range in the 22 games played prior to Friday night's action, drilled a trey with 13 seconds remaining on the clock to make it a two-point affair, but with the Wolves heading to the line for two free throws and nine seconds left to play.
 
NSU missed both of the double-bonus charity attempts, but appeared to catch a break when Pryor gobbled up the offensive rebound.  Pryor, however, was whistled for an over-the-back foul on the rebound, sending SCSU's Theo Rothstein to the line for two.
 
Rothstein drained both attempts to tie the game and a last-second jumper at the buzzer by the Wolves fell short, sending the game into overtime.
 
The Huskies took their second lead of the game – and first since scoring the night's opening bucket 27 seconds into the contest – on a Shaun Jensen jumper and never let the Wolves gain the upper hand the rest of the way.  Jensen scored SCSU's first six points in the OT period, and the Huskies cleaned up three offensive rebounds to limit NSU's chances to score in the waning minutes of the game. 
 
Brett Putz, the NSIC's leading free throw shooter, drained four free throws with less than 10 seconds to go in the game to keep the Wolves at bay.
 
NSU senior Alex Thomas finished with 10 points, while Geoffrey Firmin and Jared Hannigan added nine and eight, respectively, before fouling out of the contest.  Michael Emge and Trent Zomer came off the bench to score six apiece.
 
The Huskies were led by Putz's 25 points and nine rebounds.  Rothstein added 17 points and Jensen 13, as the trio combined to go 24 of 25 from the free throw line.
 
Tip-off for Saturday's playoff showdown with the Golden Bears is set for 8 p.m. in Wachs Arena.