St. CLOUD, Minn. – The Minnesota State men's basketball team (3-0) defeated St. Cloud State (2-1) 78-61 Saturday afternoon in a non conference game. Minnesota State was led by Malik Willingham and Kyreese Willingham, who combined for 41 points in the win over the Huskies. Today's game marks the 25th time under head coach Matt Margenthaler that the Mavericks shot 60% or better from the field.

The Mavericks started the first half hot, after a dunk by Dylan Peeters put Minnesota State up 7-0. A Brady Williams three-pointer and a fastbreak layup by Kyreese Willingham put the Mavericks up 21-9. However, the Huskies weren't out of it yet, as they roared back, going on a 14-8 run, bringing the score to 29-23.

Justin Eagins hit a three-pointer to put the Mavericks up by nine, but a pair of Huskie free throws and a layup by Jamiir Allen closed the lead back to 32-27. The half ended with the Mavericks ahead, 38-32.

Kyreese Willingham had 11 first half points to lead all scorers. Williams ended with eight points, shooting 2-3 from three-point range. The Mavericks shot an incredible 72.7% in the first half against the Huskies, and 6-9 from three as a team.

St. Cloud State was led by Allen and Wyatt Hawks, who each had six points in the first half. The Huskies shot 42.4% from the floor in the first half.

Malik Willingham opened the second half absolutely on fire. Willingham had seven points on two layups and a three-pointer through the first three minutes of the second half, extending the Minnesota State lead to 45-34. The second half was competitive between both teams, as scoring was back-and-forth. Allen for St. Cloud State hit a three-pointer with seven and a half minutes left to bring the Maverick lead to single-digits, 57-48, but Malik Willingham answered with a two-point jumper to push the MSU lead to 61-50.

Kyreese Willingham would then hit four free throws for the Mavericks after a few defensive stops to put Minnesota State ahead 66-52. From here on out, the Mavericks would pull away, closing out the game on a 21-16 run to defeat the Huskies, 78-61.

Malik Willingham led all scorers, with 21 points, 19 of which came in the second half. He shot 8-12 from the field and 3-5 from three, while corralling four rebounds, dishing out four assists and blocking a shot. Kyreese Willingham was the Mavericks' second leading scorer with 20 points. K. Willingham finished with six rebounds and shot 8-11 from the floor. Eagins finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Peeters led all players with five assists.

Hawks and Luke Taylor each scored 10 points to lead the Huskies. Both players also grabbed four rebounds apiece. Allen ended with nine points and two steals. Lucas Morgan had seven points and six rebounds to lead St. Cloud State.

Minnesota State finished shooting an outstanding 29-47 (61.7%) from the field and 10-18 (55.6%) from three against St. Cloud State. The Mavericks scored 36 points in the paint and 11 fast break points.

SCSU struggled to find its footing offensively, shooting 25-63 (39.7%) from the floor and just 3-24 (12.5%) from three-point range on Saturday. The team scored mostly in the paint, with 42 such points. St. Cloud State had 40 points from bench players against the Mavericks.

"I thought that we really came out of the gate quick and never looked back, head coach Matt Margenthaler said. "I was very pleased with the way we closed the game out in the last 10 minutes."

Minnesota State is back in action this Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 5:00 p.m. as it hosts Dakota State in the Mavericks' home opener at the Taylor Center. This will mark the fifth matchup between the Mavericks and the Trojans; Minnesota State has not lost against Dakota State, with an all-time series record of 4-0.