ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --- The Minnesota State men's basketball team kept things rolling Friday evening at the Eckerd College Thanksgiving Classic as it defeated the Tampa Spartans 75-61.

With the win, MSU improves to 3-1 on the season, while UT drops to 4-1. 

MSU saw multiple players contribute throughout the game as a total of seven Mavericks netted at least seven points in the winning effort. Junior Kevin Krieger led the MSU offense with 16 points, which included a 5-of-10 showing from the field and a 6-of-7 performance from the line. Junior Carter Asche, who made his first career start, recorded career-highs in points (13) and rebounds (8), while senior Carlos Anderson added 11 points and eight rebounds of his own.

Senior Juwan McCloud notched eight points and three assists, while senior Karson Arrenholz and freshmen Tre Baumgardner and Quincy Anderson each added seven points.

As a team, the Mavericks shot 44.4% from the field, to go along with an 11-of-15 (.733) showing from the charity stripe. The Mavericks also scored 16 points off of 10 Spartan turnovers and held a 45-39 advantage in rebounds, while passing out 14 assists.

Anthony Gamble led Tampa with a game-high 20 points, while Alberto Moreno tallied 11 points. As a team, UT shot 35.4% from the field, including a 2-of-17 (.118) performance from long range and a 13-of-25 (.520) showing from the free throw line.

The first half proved to be a close affair as neither team led by more than seven points through the first 20 minutes of the game. UT held the lead for just over 10 minutes in the first half, but a three pointer from Qunicy Anderson put the Mavericks up 22-21 with 9:26 to go in the half.

The Spartans managed to reclaim the lead at 32-30 with 2:19 to go in the half, but the Mavericks would close out the opening stanza on a 7-0 run, which included four points from Krieger and three from Asche, to put MSU up 37-32 going into halftime.

Just over two minutes into the second half a jumper from Krieger gave the Mavericks the first double-digit lead of the game at 43-33. Minnesota State would not let the Spartans get back within 10 points the rest of the way as it eventually built a 23 point lead at 73-50 with 4:20 to go in the game. Tampa was able to get back within 14 of MSU but it would get no closer as MSU locked down the 71-65 win.

Minnesota State wraps up the Eckerd College Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday as it takes on Eckerd College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (CST).

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