MARSHALL, MINN. ---  The Minnesota State men’s basketball team used a career-high 15 points from junior guard Taylor Morrow as it downed Southwest Minnesota State, 81-64, Saturday night in  front of 1,895 fans in the R/A Facility on the campus of SMSU.

The first half was tightly contested as Southwest Minnesota State opened a pair of five-point leads midway through the half, the last coming at 23-18 with 5:49 remaining.

The Mavericks then embarked on a comeback as Morrow took a beautiful pass in the paint from senior Curt Greeley and converted it into a lay-up.  Junior Marcus Hill would then knock down a pair of free throws before Morrow tied the game at 24 with 4:27 left in the half.

The two squads exchanged a pair of ties before junior Jefferson Mason hammered home a baseline dunk and Hill drained a three-pointer from the right-baseline to give MSU its largest lead of the half at 32-27.

SMSU would hit two free throws to cut the Maverick lead to 34-31 at the break.

“I thought we closed out the first half very well,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  “We attacked the boards and used our defense to create offense.  I can’t say enough about our bench tonight, they really came up big for us.”

The Mavericks finished the first half shooting 50 percent from the floor while holding the Mustangs to 30.4 percent shooting.  The difference in the first half came at the free throw line where SMSU was 15-of-19, while the Mavericks made just seven of their 12 attempts.

The Mavericks fell behind 15-4 on the glass 10 minutes into the game before recovering nicely as the held the Mustangs to just three rebounds in the final nine minutes, two of which were team rebounds.

Minnesota State opened the second half with a 6-0 run to build its first of three nine-point advantages.    The Mustangs would cut the score with in four at 50-46 before MSU went on a 15-4 run to push a 16-point advantage and never look back.

Mason led MSU in scoring with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-2 from the three-point line.  He also hauled in five rebounds, gathered four steals, passed out four assists and recorded a blocked shot all in 31 minutes. 

Morrow added 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting to go with four rebounds while senior center Travis Nelson scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with seven rebounds.  Senior guard Jermain Davis scored 11 points – as he drilled all three of his three-point attempts – and Hill added 11 to round out the Mavericks in double figures.

The Mavericks finished the game shooting 58.5 percent from the floor while holding the Mustangs to 34.5. The MSU defense stifled the Mustangs, forcing to make just 10 of their first 30 shots.   Minnesota State finished the game owning the battle of the glass, 35-30, including a 31-15edge since the final 9:51 edge of the first half.

Minnesota State scored 17 points off 12 SMSU turnovers in the win.  MSU’s bench outscored SMSU’s, 33-16. 

The Mavericks (23-2, 16-2 NSIC) host Augustana Wednesday evening at 8 p.m.

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