Jan. 2, 2003

Final Stats

GREELEY, Colo. - The St. Cloud State Huskies put an end to two of the University of Northern Colorado men's basketball streaks with a 71-70 victory on Thursday evening. The Huskies ended UNC's 10-game home court winning streak and the Bears' eight-game overall winning streak.

The two teams battled back and forth in the first half, changing leads seven times with UNC managing to build a 31-29 lead at the break. Early on St. Cloud (11-1, 1-0 NCC) led 14-8, but UNC (8-3, 0-1 NCC) used four points from sophomore center Josh Nigut over the next two minutes to claim a 17-16 lead midway through the first half.

The game was tied 11 times in the second half and for the last time at 70-70 with 1:16 left when SCSU's Alex Carlson nailed his first of two free-throws to put the Huskies on top. Carlson also nailed the second shot to give St. Cloud the 71-70 lead which would be the final margin.

UNC had its chances to win the game and extend its streaks, but two shots were off the mark and Nigut had his shot blocked with 25 seconds remaining. The Bears were then forced to foul Carlson, who missed his attempt with 23 seconds left. UNC got its last chance on an open three-pointer from the top left wing from junior Sean Nolen, but the shot bounced off the rim ending the game.

Nigut led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds for UNC, his fourth double-double of the season. Three other Bears chipped in with 10 points apiece, including Vincent Jackson (tying a career-high), James Randle and Nolen.

St. Cloud was led by 12 from Matt Siegle and 11 apiece from Forrest Witt and Jason Kron.

UNC shot uncharacteristically poor from three-point range, nailing only 33% (3-9) of their attempts, their third lowest percentage of the season, and second lowest total output on the year, trailing only the Colorado Mines game (2-10) on Dec. 5.

UNC is back in action on Saturday when they battle North Dakota State at 4:00 p.m. Following the game, there will be an autograph session with the UNC players where the Bears will sign their 2002-03 poster.

Game Notes: The home loss was the first since dropping a 67-63 decision to South Dakota on Jan. 4, 2002, almost a calendar year ago ... the Bears shot 53.7% from the field, marking the eighth straight game the team was over 50% from the field ... UNC made only 9-15 (33%) of its free-throw attempts, its lowest percentage of the season.

Other NCC Scores
South Dakota State, 90 - Minnesota State, Mankato, 88
South Dakota, 79 - North Dakota, 78
Nebraska-Omaha, 76 - North Dakota State, 74