Turnovers derail ThunderWolves' near upset bid

OMAHA, Neb. - It was nearly a dark day for the St. Cloud State men's basketball team.

Nearly.

Instead, it was the ThunderWolves that had to swallow a 52-50 loss, coming one shot away from an upset of a St. Cloud State team that has started undefeated and expects to be ranked in the nation's top 25 when the next poll is released.

The ThunderWolves had the ball with 28 seconds remaining, looking for an opportunity to tie the game up in the closing seconds. But a last-second layup by Ty McTyer didn't find the net, and the Pack fell two points short.

The ThunderWolves' performance, however, was one of its best in a long time. The Pack shot 58 percent from the field, a far cry from the sub-40 percent performances they have shown this season, and outrebounded the Huskies 31-21. Additionally, the Huskies' all-American guard, David Dreas, was held to just four points in a 2-for-13 performance. As a team, St. Cloud only shot 39 percent from the field, by far its lowest shooting output of the season.

But the dagger for the Pack was its inability to hold on to the ball. The ThunderWolves committed 23 turnovers to St. Cloud State's 10. It was a factor that impacted the Pack in the game's pivotal final five minutes.

After getting within 45-44 with 6:40 left, the Pack committed four turnovers in key situations, and also showed on of their poorest string of shooting in the game, only going 3-for-7 from the field as the Pack could never take that next step and take the lead. The ThunderWolves went the entire game without having a lead, though they never trailed by more than eight points.

The turbulent second half was partly made so by the play of junior Rome Smith, who had his coming out party of sorts for the Pack, making plenty of big shots in key situations. Smith scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, including two three-pointers. His layup with two minutes left in the second half helped to peck away at St. Cloud's 52-45 lead, one that seemed insurmountable at the time. Smith's bucket was followed by a three-point play by Ty McTyer that brought the Pack to within two with 1:21 remaining.

The close loss drops the Pack to 1-3 on the season, and was their second loss in as many games at the University of Nebraska-Omaha Thanksgiving Classic.

The ThunderWolves will return to the court next weekend when they host the Chuck Stephens Classic at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo.