Fayette, Iowa --- The Minnesota State men’s basketball team tickled the twine at a 63 percent clip Saturday evening en route to a 98-83 overtime victory over Upper Iowa in Dorman Gymnasium on the campus of Upper Iowa University.

The win marked MSU’s first overtime road victory since earning a 90-83 win at Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 2, 2000.

Sophomore forward #Connor O’Brien# led the way for the Mavericks as he finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, registering his fifth double-double of the season and the eighth of his career before fouling out. Senior guard Stephen Kirschbaum and freshman forward #Zach Romashko# each added 26 and 23 points respectively.  Kirschbaum’s 26 established a new career-high while Romashko tied his career-best.

“We didn’t make it easy,” said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  “But we will take it.  I am so proud with how hard our guys played down the stretch.”

The first half saw the Mavericks race to a 51-40 lead, the most points it scored in the opening half this year.  Offensively, the Mavericks shot a scorching 68 percent, hitting on 17-of-25 of its shots.  Three Mavericks reached double-digits in the scoring column in the first half, led O’Brien who scored 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting to go with a team-high six rebounds.

Sophomore guard Jimmy Whitehead added 13 points while Kirschbaum scored 10 points, including five from the free throw line. 

With the score tied at 32 with five minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the first half, the Mavericks used a 19-8 run to close out the first half.

Upper Iowa cut the Maverick lead to eight at 54-46 with about 17 minutes left before MSU reopened a 58-46 lead, prompting a UIU timeout.

Following the timeout, UIU used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to seven before freshman guard Miles Chamberlain hit a jumper to push it back to a nine-point advantage.

The Mavericks then pushed it back to a 12-point lead after Romashko drained a three-pointer from the top of the key.  Minnesota State maintained a double-digit lead until the 6:06 mark of the game when UIU drained a three to cut the score to 72-64.

The Peacocks continued to nibble at the Maverick lead, trimming it to five at 74-69 when Mark LaFrenz drained a three-pointer with 4:22 remaining.

After both teams traded free throws, UIU used a lay-up to cut the Maverick lead to 76-73 with two minutes remaining. 

Romashko then went to work on the offensive end as he converted a traditional three-point play to push the lead back to six at 79-73.

After a UIU lay-up, Chamberlain hit a free throw to push the Maverick lead to five.  After UIU cut the lead to three with a runner, sophomore guard Travis Meinders hit the back end of the two-shot free throw attempt to push the lead back to four, forcing UIU to call a time-out with 39.3 seconds left.

Upper Iowa then went down and hit a jumper before fouling Meinders, who again hit one of his two attempts, giving UIU the ball with 19 seconds left.

The Peacock’s Sam Elgin would tie the game by drilling a three with nine seconds left, forcing overtime. 

Kirschbaum started the overtime period with a three-pointer from the right wing.  After a pair of UIU free throws, Romashko used a little shake and bake from the paint to push the lead back to seven. 

The Peacocks continued to answer as they hit a lay-up to trim the lead back to 87-86 before Kirschbaum hit a pair of free throws to push the lead back to three.  After a rebound on the defensive end, Chamberlain hit the back end of a two-shot attempt to give MSU a 90-86 advantage. 

UIU trimmed the lead back down to three with 2:19 remaining before forcing the Mavericks into a turnover. After the defense forced a missed Peacock shot, Meinders drilled a three pushing the lead to six. 

The six-point lead was short-lived however as Elgin buried another three from essentially the same spot where he forced overtime cutting the score to 94-91 with :49.3 left.  From that point on, MSU made its free throws to ice the win.

O’Brien scored his 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting.  Four of his 13 rebounds were offensive.  Whitehead added 13 points before fouling out.

Kirschbaum shot 5-of-10 from the floor including 13-of-15 from the free throw line while Romashko was 8-of-12 and 6-of-7 from the stripe.

As a team, MSU connected on 33-of-50 free throws and outrebounded UIU, 36-26.  The 50 free throws attempted are the most since MSU attempted 54 against Western Oregon on Dec. 30, 2004.  The 33 makes marks the most since MSU hit 32 against Maryville on Nov. 20, 2009.

Minnesota State (7-12, 6-9 NSIC) returns to action Friday as it hosts Augustana.  Gametime is set for 8 p.m. 

Listen to coach Margenthaler following the game HERE

Stephen Kirschbaum talks about the win: