TOPEKA, Kan. - Griffon Men's Basketball (21-12, 12-7 MIAA) saw its season come to an end in the NCAA Central Region tournament with an 83-65 loss to No. 4 seed St. Cloud State (26-6, 20-2 NSIC) on Saturday night at Lee Arena in Topeka.
St. Cloud State, who's 19-1 since January 1, got off to a 10-2 start and just never looked back. The Huskies led by as many as 19 points in the first half, but MoWest cut the deficit to 39-24 at halftime.
Marko Pavlovic scored the first field goal of the second half on a quick layup, but SCSU opened the second half on a 13-4 run, and maintained its advantage.
The largest deficit for the Griffs was 59-33 with 13:25 to go. The Huskies were at times unconscious from beyond the arc, knocking down 15-of-28 from long range, including eight of their first nine attempts in the second half.
MoWest could not keep up from deep, making 5 of their 17 attempts. Pavlovic led MoWest in scoring with 21 points. Bode Goodman came off the bench for 16 points - 14 of it in the second half.
MoWest was outrebounded 43-25, but outscored SCSU in the paint 38-22.
The Griffons end a strong first season under head coach Brooks McKowen with just its third NCAA tournament bid in the last 16 years, and its first 20-win season since 2002-03.
