GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Forward Kyle Behrens (Sr., Hayfield, Minn.) connected on three three-point field goals in the final three minutes of the game to lead North Dakota to a 70-67 win over visiting St. Cloud State in North Central Conference men’s basketball on Saturday.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for UND (16-8 overall, 9-7 NCC) and clinched the Sioux a spot in the conference playoffs. North Dakota will play Feb. 27 at a site and against an opponent that will be determined after UND’s games next weekend against Augustana and South Dakota State.
Behrens, who has played the last three games with a broken ring finger on his shooting hand, finished with 27 points against the Huskies.
The Sioux were down 63-59 with less than three minutes to play, but Behrens connected on a three to make it 63-62 with 2:52 left. The Huskies’ Rado Rancik made two free throws to make it 65-62, but then Behrens connected on another three to tie it at 65-65 with 2:19 to play.
After UND point guard Curtis Munlin (Sr., Mishawaka, Ind.) gave the Sioux a 67-65 lead with a driving layup, St. Cloud State forward Jason Kron tied it at 67-67 with an inside basket with 45 seconds left.
Behrens then hit his game-winning three-pointer with 30 seconds left to make it 70-67 UND.
St. Cloud State had two chances to tie in the final 10 seconds, but three-point attempts by the Huskies’ B.J. Brandt and Alex Carlson were off the mark.
UND forward Jerrid Sebesta (Jr., Montevideo, Minn.) was the only other Sioux player besides Behrens to score in double figures. Sebesta had 10 points, all in the first half.
St. Cloud State was led by Brandt and Rancik, who each had 19 points.
UND outrebounded St. Cloud State, 45-28, and the Sioux grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. Rancik and UND’s Tom Jacobson (Sr., Mayville, N.D.) each had eight rebounds to share game rebounding honors. Behrens had seven rebounds and also had four blocked shots.
St. Cloud State shot 41.4 percent from the field (24-of-58), while UND shot 40.9 percent from the field (27-of-66).
The Sioux will play at Augustana at 8 p.m. on Friday and conclude the regular season at South Dakota State at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The Sioux are in fifth place in the NCC, one game behind fourth-place Morningside (10-6 NCC) in the conference standings. Morningside plays at MSU, Mankato and St. Cloud State next weekend. The fourth-place team will play at home in the playoffs on Feb. 27 and the fifth-, sixth- and seventh-place teams will play on the road.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
St. Cloud State Univ vs North Dakota
2/17/01 7 p.m. at Grand Forks, N.D.
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VISITORS: St. Cloud State Univ 18-5, 11-5 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Alex Carlson........ * 4-7 3-5 0-0 0 3 3 2 11 6 2 0 0 33
20 Forrest Witt........ * 2-10 0-5 0-0 1 3 4 1 4 2 3 0 1 34
30 Rado Rancik......... * 6-12 0-3 7-8 1 2 3 2 19 1 4 0 2 33
40 Jason Kron.......... * 4-8 1-1 2-2 2 3 5 2 11 2 0 0 0 36
54 B.J. Brandt......... * 7-16 3-6 2-3 2 6 8 3 19 1 2 0 3 36
10 Brian Gray.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4
14 Todd Bishop......... 1-1 1-1 0-1 0 1 1 3 3 3 0 0 1 14
44 Alan Persinger...... 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 9
50 Andrew Johnson...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 3 4 7
Totals.............. 24-58 8-23 11-14 9 24 33 14 67 15 11 0 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-30 36.7% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% Game: 41.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 4-13 30.8% Game: 34.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 78.6% 0
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HOME TEAM: North Dakota 16-8, 9-7 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Tom Jacobson........ * 2-4 0-2 0-0 3 5 8 0 4 4 2 0 1 32
12 Curtis Munlin....... * 4-10 0-2 0-1 1 1 2 2 8 3 0 1 1 27
30 Jeff Brandt......... * 2-12 1-6 2-2 1 2 3 2 7 3 1 0 0 31
40 Jerrid Sebesta...... * 5-6 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 4 10 0 0 0 1 16
54 Kyle Behrens........ * 9-22 4-7 5-6 3 4 7 3 27 0 3 4 0 30
20 Jade Jahner......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
22 Corey Sheplee....... 2-3 1-1 2-2 0 0 0 0 7 0 2 0 1 13
34 Nigel Jenkins....... 2-6 1-1 0-0 1 3 4 0 5 2 1 1 0 18
42 Josh Johnson........ 0-1 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 3 0 0 1 0 1 24
44 Brandon Badding..... 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 1 2 2 2 0 0 9
TEAM................ 3 4 7
Totals.............. 27-66 7-19 9-13 17 28 45 15 70 14 13 6 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-35 40.0% 2nd Half: 13-31 41.9% Game: 40.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 36.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 69.2% 2
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Officials: John Yorkovich, Pat Bauschelt, Mike Nevin
Technical fouls: St. Cloud State Univ-None. North Dakota-None.
Attendance: 3819
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
St. Cloud State Univ.......... 29 38 - 67
North Dakota.................. 33 37 - 70