Box Score Marshall, Minn. --- The 21st-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team used a 24-12 run in the final 6:04 to turn a 71-60 deficit into a 85-84 victory over Southwest Minnesota State Friday evening in a thrilling Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tilt.

In all, three Mavericks scored 20 or more points in the win as senior guard Jarvis Williams scored a game and season-high 27 points.  Sophomore center Assem Marei added 23 while sophomore point guard Zach Monaghan scored 20.  William's 27 and Marei's 23 were each season-highs.

"I'm proud with the way our guys battled back tonight," said head coach Matt Margenthaler.  "It'd be nice if we didn't put ourselves in those positions, but we fought through some adversity and had a lot of guys hit big shots down the stretch."

The Mustangs led for the first 12 minutes of the first half before the Mavericks tied it with a pretty lay-up by sophomore center Assem Marei with 8:09 left in the first half.  

From that point on, the first team featured seven ties and four lead changes as Minnesota State took a 41-38 lead into the break thanks to a three-pointer by sophomore forward Zach Romashko from the right wing..

Marei joined senior guard Jarvis Williams and sophomore guard Zach Monaghan in scoring during the first 20 minutes as the trio each scored ten points.

After Williams hit a jumper to open the second half, the Mustangs used a 21-5 run over a nine-minute, ten-second span to open its biggest lead of the night at 61-48 with 9:53 remaining.  

Minnesota State clawed their way back into the game, cutting the deficit to five at 81-76 with 1:32 remaining when Monaghan drilled a three from the top-of the key.

On the ensusing Maverick possession, Monaghan hit two of three free throws and Marei hit a lay-up to trim the deficit to one at 81-80.  From that point on, MSU sank five-of-six free throws to seal the win.  SMSU's Jordan Miller scored 25 in the loss, including a three at the buzzer to make it a one-point game.

Williams finished the night shooting 7-of-15 from the floor and 13-of-14 from the free throw line.  His 27 points is the most by a Maverick this season.

Monaghan hit on 6-of-9 of his shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from downtown en route to his 20 points while Marei's 23 points his 11 rebounds.  It marked Marei's second double-double in as many games.

The Mavericks finished the night shooting 44.8 from the floor and outrebounded SMSU  40-36.

Minnesota State (7-1, 3-1 NSIC) plays at Sioux Falls Saturday evening.  Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. Williams talks about the win: