MARSHALL, Minn. --- Turnovers proved costly Friday evening as the Minnesota State men's basketball team fell to Southwest Minnesota State 82-70 on the road.
With the loss, the Mavericks fall to 20-7, including a 16-5 NSIC record. With the win, the Mustangs improve to 20-7, including a 16-5 conference record.
The Mustangs held a lead through the majority of the opening stanza as they led by as many as 17 points. With just under 12 minutes to go in the half, SMSU and MSU were tied at 13-13, but SMSU would go on a 30-13 run over the next nine minutes to go up 43-26 with 2:01 to go in the half.
The Mavericks managed to finish the first half outscoring the Mustangs 9-3 in the final two minutes to cut SMSU's halftime lead to 45-35. Senior
Charlie Brown, sophomore
Kevin Krieger and freshman
Jamal Nixon each tallied a three pointer in the final two minutes for the Mavericks.
Krieger led all scorers in the first half with 18 points, while Brown dropped in 12 points. As a team, MSU shot 40% from the field in the opening session, including a 5-of-12 (.417) showing from downtown.
Ryan Bruggeman led the SMSU offense in the first half with 12 points and four assists, while Carter Kirk notched 11 points and six rebounds. As a team, SMSU shot 51.6% from the field in the first half, including a 4-of-8 performance from three point range.
The Mavericks managed to get back within eight points of the Mustangs on a few occasions in the second half but they would get no closer as SMSU bested Minnesota State 82-70.
Krieger finished his night matching his career-high of 30 points as he connected on 8-of-16 shots from the field and 11-of-12 attempts from the free throw line. Brown added 21 points while shooting 8-of-14 from the field as well.
As a team, Minnesota State shot 42.3% from the field against the Mustangs, to go along with a 20-of-25 (.800) showing from the charity stripe.
SMSU's Bruggeman led all scorers with 33 points and six assists. Kirk notched a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
As a team, Southwest Minnesota State shot 47.5% from the field, including a 7-of-14 performance from long range. The Mustangs also netted 19 points off of 15 MSU turnovers.
Minnesota State wraps up its regular season schedule on Saturday as it takes on the Sioux Falls Cougars in Sioux Falls, S.D. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Should MSU defeat USF, it will claim at least a share of the NSIC South Division Championship and the south division's #1 seed for the NSIC Tournament.
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