January 18, 2002
Grand Forks, ND – The University of North Dakota men's basketball team came back from a 15-point second half deficit to down No. 14 St. Cloud State, 91-88 in overtime, in North Central Conference play Friday night. Trailing 40-33 at the half and 48-33 with 17 minutes to play in the second half, the Sioux stormed back with a 35-13 run over an 11-minute stretch, forcing overtime when Jerome Beasley hit an 18 footer with five seconds remaining. In overtime it was Beasley again, this time giving UND an 89-88 lead with just 10 seconds to play on a ferocious dunk courtesy of a nifty Mario Porter pass in the lane. St. Cloud State's Forrest Witt then missed a running jumper in the lane with four seconds to play and the Sioux's Ryan Walker grabbed the rebound. He was immediately fouled, hit both free throws, and the Huskies desperation pass down court was intercepted by Beasley. Beasley led all scorers with 36 points. UND improved to 11-5 with the win, 6-2 in the North Central Conference. St. Cloud State fell to 13-3 overall, 5-3 in league play.
It didn't look good for North Dakota early as it fell behind 40-33 at the break. Beasley's 13 first-half points kept the Sioux close as St. Cloud State shot 65.2 percent, hitting 15-of-23 shots. Meanwhile the Sioux shot just 37.5 percent, hitting 12-of-32 shots. In addition to Beasley's 13, Jeff Brandt had seven, but no one else had more than four.
UND's struggles continued in the second half as the Huskies scored the first eight points of the half to take a 48-33 lead with 17:14 remaining. A Porter tipin on North Dakota's next possession stopped SCSU's 19-4 run and was the spark the Sioux desperately needed. Porter scored on UND's next two possessions while the UND defense tightened, holding the Huskies without a basket for nearly three minutes. A Josh Johnson jumper with 14:49 to play brought the Sioux to within four, 48-44, the closest they'd been since the five minute mark of the first half.
UND tied the score at 59 and 61 and then took its first lead of the second half on a Brandt 3-point shot with 7:57 to go that put the Sioux up 64-61. The lead would reach seven, 68-61, before St. Cloud State made a run of its own. Over the next four minutes the Huskies would go on a 15-3 run to retake the lead, 76-71, with 2:36 to play, setting up the late-game dramatics.
Two Porter free throws with 2:20 remaining brought the Sioux within three. A Beasley 3-point shot from the left wing tied the score at 76 with 1:32 to play. The Huskies fed the ball inside on their next possession to Rado Rancik, who drew a foul and hit both free throws with 1:14 to play to make the score 78-76. The Sioux missed on their next possession but forced a SCSU turnover with just over 30 seconds to play. With the shot clock off, North Dakota missed on its first attempt to tie the score, but Josh Johnson was there to grab the key offensive rebound. After a timeout, Brandt passed out of a double team to Beasley along the right baseline, who calmly hit the tying jumper from just inside the 3-point line.
North Dakota quickly took a three-point lead in the second half on baskets by Porter and Beasley and wouldn't lose the lead until St. Cloud's Jason Kron hit two free throws with 58 second to play to give the Huskies an 86-85 lead. On UND's next possesstion Walker and Johnson both grabbed offensive rebounds off of missed shots, Johnson putting his rebound back for an 87-86 lead with 37 seconds to play.
SCSU's BJ Brant connected on a jumper for the Huskies with 13 seconds to play, setting up Porter and Beasley's heroics. With the clock under 10 seconds, Porter dribbled into the lane where seemingly nothing was available. Surrounded by three St. Cloud State defenders, Porter somehow dished the ball to Beasley who was positioned six feet from the basket along the right baseline. He got the pass, took one step and put down the resounding dunk.
With all 3,855 fans on their feet, Witt missed his running jumper and the rebound was collected by Walker. He hit both free throws to conclude the Sioux's remarkable comeback.
UND is now 8-1 at home this season, undefeated against non-highly ranked Division I teams from the state of Kansas. North Dakota also improved to 3-0 in games this season that have gone to overtime.
Beasley led all scorers with 36 points. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Porter finished with 15 points and six assists, while Brandt had 14. Walker was his usual self, scoring just five points but coming up with eight rebounds - all seeming to come when the Sioux needed a key rebound most - three assists, two steals and a block. Johnson finished with six points and seven boards.
Rancik led St. Cloud State with 24 points and nine rebounds.
UND is home Saturday night against MSU-Mankato, a one-point victor over North Dakota State on Friday night.
Official Basketball Box Score
St. Cloud State vs North Dakota
1/18/02 8 p.m. at Grand Forks, N.D. - Hyslop Sports Center
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VISITORS: St. Cloud State 13-3, 5-3 NCC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 BJ Brant............ * 5-9 1-2 5-6 3 8 11 2 16 2 1 0 0 34
12 Nate Miller......... * 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 4 2 5 1 0 1 26
14 Forrest Witt........ * 5-11 1-2 2-4 0 4 4 2 13 3 3 0 1 39
30 Rado Rancik......... * 9-16 0-1 6-7 1 8 9 3 24 1 5 1 1 43
40 Jason Kron.......... * 4-9 0-2 9-9 0 5 5 2 17 3 2 2 0 43
20 Jonny Reese......... 4-9 0-2 1-2 0 1 1 2 9 0 3 0 0 27
44 Alan Persinger...... 1-2 0-0 4-4 0 2 2 2 6 0 0 0 0 11
50 Andy Johnson........ 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 29-58 2-9 28-35 6 32 38 18 88 14 15 3 3 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-23 65.2% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% OT: 3-9 33.3% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% OT: 0-2 0.0% Game: 22.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-15 66.7% 2nd Half: 14-15 93.3% OT: 4-5 80.0% Game: 80.0% 0
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HOME TEAM: North Dakota 11-5, 6-2 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 Mario Porter........ * 6-10 0-1 3-6 1 1 2 4 15 6 3 0 0 29
30 Jeff Brandt......... * 6-16 2-7 0-0 0 4 4 2 14 4 2 0 1 35
32 Ryan Walker......... * 1-2 1-1 2-2 4 4 8 3 5 3 1 1 2 33
42 Josh Johnson........ * 3-6 0-1 0-0 5 2 7 3 6 0 0 1 0 24
54 Jerome Beasley...... * 14-31 2-2 6-8 1 8 9 4 36 0 1 1 2 37
14 Mike Johnson........ 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 10
20 Jade Jahner......... 0-1 0-1 2-5 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 10
22 Corey Sheplee....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6
24 Robert Lolar........ 3-5 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 5 7 2 1 0 0 18
34 Nigel Jenkins....... 0-2 0-1 2-2 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 12
40 Jerrid Sebesta...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 11
Team................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 34-76 6-17 17-25 15 30 45 24 91 18 10 3 7 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-32 37.5% 2nd Half: 17-32 53.1% OT: 5-12 41.7% Game: 44.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% OT: 0-1 0.0% Game: 35.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-7 100 % 2nd Half: 7-14 50.0% OT: 3-4 75.0% Game: 68.0% 3
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Officials: Mike Cannon, Bill Fisher, Bill Richter
Technical fouls: St. Cloud State-None. North Dakota-None.
Attendance: 3855
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
St. Cloud State............... 40 38 10 - 88
North Dakota.................. 33 45 13 - 91
North Central Conference game