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MARSHALL - The No. 22-ranked Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team opened the second half of the SMSU Classic with a blazing 13-0 run that helped erase a 31-24 halftime deficit against Lewis University (Ill.).

While the Flyers stepped it back up and knotted the score at 42-all, the Mustangs persevered using a stellar defensive and three-point performance to earn the 69-62 victory at the R/A Facility Friday.

SMSU improves to 2-0 and will face Bellevue (Neb.) in the second day of the Classic at 8 p.m. today. Lewis drops to 1-1 and will matchup against Upper Iowa at 3 p.m.

"You got to give the guys a lot of credit," said SMSU interim head coach Brad Bigler. "At halftime when we were talking, they were confident. They knew that if we had just knocked down a few shots and a few balls bounced our way, it could have been a different score pretty easily."

Jordan Miller got SMSU started in the second half with a three-pointer from the top of the key. After Taylor Huseby tapped in a teammate's missed shot and Anthony Peschong added a free throw, Jon DeRock got hot and gave the Mustangs a 32-31 lead after nailing a shot from the left wing.

"We knew we were down seven and we had to make something happen otherwise we were going to be a little disappointed in the outcome," said DeRock. "So we banned together and made some plays."

After a timeout, DeRock forced a Lewis turnover and then earned an assist on Nick Dale's field goal. DeRock followed up with back-to-back triples, both from the top of the key.

"The key for us was to pick up the tempo as much as we could," Bigler said. "Lewis only plays six or seven guys max. So it was important for us to get up and down the court. As simple as that sounds, I think that's what got them tired in the second half and forced them to go to the zone defense just to rest their guys."

From that zone defense, SMSU was able to get some open shots and then knock down those shots more consistently. The Mustangs hit eight baskets for a sizzling 50 percent from behind the arc in the second half, while the Flyers had four total three-pointers.

"Jon and Jordan were taking advantage of being in the right place at the right time," said Bigler. "We have to give credit to Andrew Peschong and Lavione West that were creating those open opportunities for those guys."

Miller was 5-for-8 from behind the arc and scored a game-high 19 points, while DeRock added 10 points. DeAnthony Zanders tied a career-high seven rebounds to lead SMSU on the boards in addition to earning eight points and five assists.

"We knew we had to come out and play a little harder," said Zanders. "Our rotations on defense were a little shaky at the beginning of the game. They have really good shooters from their big men down to their guards. We knew we had to pick it up defensively and just try to shake them up a little bit. We kept pushing and fighting."

Lewis took a 45-42 lead on a three-pointer from the left baseline. But Zanders' hit his own triple to tie things up at 47-all. The Flyers still wouldn't back down and took the lead again until Miller stepped it up, knotting the score at 53-all with a basket behind the arc on a Kevin Andrews rebound.

"Lewis was a very talented team," Bigler said. "They're big, athletic and can knock down shots. They're going to have a pretty good season I think. Defensively, we really locked on them. We made the big stop when we needed to."

While the Mustangs put the pressure on at the defensive end, they also kept moving the ball around offensively.

After West hit both free throws, Lewis picked up an offensive charge and was also penalized for a technical after comments from the bench. Miller drained the second of two shots from behind the stripe to give SMSU a 56-55 advantage which never wavered again.

"We knew we just needed to buckle down and play solid defense and rebound the ball," DeRock said. "We knew if we did those two things, we'd be in good shape. I felt like we were more disciplined in the second half and we rotated faster and got out on shooters quicker. Plain and simple, we just started knocking down shots too."

Miller netted another triple and Zanders hit a shot in the paint to go up 61-55 with 2:49 remaining. But Lewis' Matt Toth, who led the Flyers with 17 points, converted on a drive and dish to cut the lead down to four.

That's when Zanders lit up a three-pointer just before the shot clock buzzed, giving the Mustangs a commanding 64-57 lead with 36 seconds left.

"We pulled together," Zanders said. "We're going through some adversity and it just showed our maturity. We picked it up on the defensive end and that helped us out on the offensive end. I'm proud of my teammates."

Bigler said that Bellevue is almost the polar opposite of Lewis, but that controlling the tempo would be the key for SMSU.

Bellevue 81, Upper Iowa 75

Bellevue got back to .500 for the season with an 81-75 win Friday over Upper Iowa to open the SMSU Classic at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

Bellevue, who is ranked No. 12 in NAIA, was led by Jace Fredenburg and Avery Tyler, who each scored 17 points in the contest.

Matt Lesan led Upper Iowa with 16 points and three steals.

UIU will continue play today at 3 p.m. against Lewis and Bellevue will face-off against SMSU at 8 p.m.

SMSU 69

Jordan Miller 6-9 2-4 19, Jon DeRock 4-7 0-0 10, DeAnthony Zanders 3-10 0-0 8, Kevin Andrews 3-9 2-2 8, Nick Dale 3-8 2-2 8, Andrew Peschong 2-5 2-4 7, Lavione West 2-8 3-3 7, Taylor Huseby 1-5 0-0 2.

Lewis (Ill.) 62

Matt Toth 7-11 3-4 17, Marty Strus 6-6 4-4 16, Dennis Thomas Jr. 3-11 4-5 11, Justin Jarosz 3-6 0-0 8, Chris McClellan 1-5 3-4 6, David Bryant 2-3 0-0 4.

3-point goal SMSU 10 (Miller 5-8, DeRock 2-4, Zanders 2-7, Peschong 1-1), Lewis 4 (Jarosz 2-3, Thomas 1-5, McClellan 1-2.

Rebounds SMSU 32, Lewis 31.

Assists SMSU 20 (Zanders 5, Peschong 4, Huseby 4, Miller 3, West 2), Lewis 16 (Thomas 7, McClellan 5).

Blocks SMSU 1 (Dale), Lewis 5 (Strus 3, Toth, Jarosz).

Steals SMSU 7 (West 2, Zanders 2, Miller, DeRock, Dale), Lewis 5 (Thomas 4, Jarosz).

Turnovers SMSU 11, Lewis 16.

Halftime Score Lewis 31, SMSU 24.