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SMSU Men’s Basketball: Mustangs move to 7-1 on season with win over WSU

WINONA – Southwest Minnesota State bounced back from its first loss of the season on Friday night with an impressive 77-61 road victory over Winona State on Saturday night at McCown Gym.

SMSU with the win improves to 7-1 overall, 2-1 NSIC. The victory was also SMSU’s first over WSU in Winona State since the 2002-03 season–snapping a 15-game losing streak.

SMSU coach Brad Bigler thought the guys did a nice job battling after a tough loss on Friday and adjusting to playing without Carter Kirk, who was out of the game with an injury.

“Coming off a tough loss, I wasn’t too worried about how our guys would respond,” said Bigler. “Mitch Weg and Joey Bartlett had to take over when Carter sat out. We were able to adjust our rotation and put some guys in different roles and I thought those guys responded really well.

Michael Lee came off the bench for SMSU to score a career-high 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting with four 3-pointers. Ryan Bruggeman scored a game-high 19 points, including making 12 of 13 free throws, while Turner Moen (13) and KJ Davis (12) also both scored in double figures to pace the Mustangs.

SMSU finished the night making 28 of 32 free throws and held a 41-33 rebound advantage, despite playing without leading rebounder, Carter Kirk, who missed the game with an injury. SMSU, which committed 20 turnovers in last night’s loss at Upper Iowa, turned the ball over just seven times tonight.

SMSU shot 39 percent (21 of 54) from the field, including 7 of 21 from 3-point range. A strong Mustang defense limited the Warriors to just 37 percent (23 of 61) shooting.

WSU (3-3, 0-2 NSIC) started the game strong–building a 23-9 lead in the game’s first seven and a half minutes.

SMSU slowly cut into the lead and used a key 7-0 run late in the half to cut the deficit to 30-28 with 3:30 left in the half. The Mustangs continued its strong defensive play and closed the half on a 3-pointer by Lee and a basket by Davis to take a 33-31 halftime lead.

WSU regained the lead early in the second half, but a 3-pointer by Bruggeman, a 3-pointer by Lee and a three-point play by Bruggeman push the SMSU lead to 42-36 with 16:50 remaining and the Mustangs never trailed again.

SMSU held a 53-50 advantage with 10:30 left in the game, but put the game away with a clinching 15-2 run over the next seven minutes to seal the victory.

Southwest Minnesota State returns home next Friday, Dec. 9, facing Minnesota Duluth with tip-off slated for 8 p.m. at the R/A Facility. SMSU will host St. Cloud State on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications

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