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SMSU MEN’S BASKETBALL: Victory tastes sweet for Mustangs

SMSU defeats East Central to advance to Sweet 16 round of NCAA Division II Tournament

Photo courtesy of David Merrill/Maryville Daily Forum SMSU’s KJ Davis puts up a floater against East Central in the NCAA Central Region Semifinals Sunday night. The Mustangs defeated the Tigers 74-70 to advance to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team found itself locked in its second tight battle in as many days, but the Mustangs pulled it out once again, beating East Central 74-70 on Sunday to advance to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.

Southwest head coach Brad Bigler gave a lot of credit to the Tigers, as neither team led by more than seven over the course of the game.

“I have to tip my hat to East Central,” he said. “There’s a reason why they are regular season conference and tournament conference champions. They’re a heck of a team and (Braxton) Reeves is a heck of a player. It took a heck of an effort by our whole team to try and contain him in the second half.”

With 50 seconds left and SMSU up 66-64, Taylor Schafer made one of two free throws and put the Mustangs up 67-64.

The Mustangs then made a stop before Ryan Bruggeman had his shot blocked on the ensuing possession, but Mitch Weg grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

He made both free throws to put the Mustangs up five.

East Central responded with a 3-pointer from Donovan Halsel to make it 69-67 SMSU with 25.5 seconds left.

Bruggeman made one of his two free throws to stretch the lead to 70-67, then came up with a steal with six seconds left, which led to two more free throws to essentially put the game on ice.

Camron Tally made a 3-pointer in the waning seconds, but even after 0.1 was put back on the clock, it was too late.

Bruggeman made two more free throws to make the final score 74-70.

Tiger senior Braxton Reeves picked up a technical foul arguing a no-call with 1:04 left, which helped the Mustangs get some breathing room.

Bruggeman made his free throws down the stretch, but Schafer helped dig the Mustangs out of some holes.

KD Moore put the Tigers up 58-52 with 7:46 to go in the second half, but Schafer responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 58 with 6:58 left.

The teams continued to battle evenly as Carter Kirk’s layup with 4:55 left tied the game at 62, but Schafer tied it at 64 with 3:22 left thanks to two free throws.

He converted two more free throws with 2:30 left, which gave SMSU a 66-64 lead.

Bruggeman, who scored a game-high 29 points, gave a lot of credit to his fellow sophomore.

“That was huge for him to step up and knock those down like we know he can,” Bruggeman said. “We were down, but we’ve been in that situation before. We just told each other to stay together. We were able to knock down some shots and get back in it.”

Schafer is a 36 percent free throw shooter on the year.

One game after making 21 free throws, the Mustangs made 17 more against East Central (on 24 attempts). The Tigers attempted 17 free throws and made 12.

Schafer was the only other Mustang in double figures with 15. Reeves managed a team-high 18 points for the Tigers, but it came on 18 shots.

East Central coach Ja Havens said this loss was especially tough for him and his six seniors, who helped turn the program around.

“Both teams wanted to win really bad,” he said. “There was very little talk about basketball, and a lot more talk about how I feel about this group after the game. Braxton was at the university when I got here, we had two more that signed that summer. I told them I was the guy who was lucky enough to have a front row seat to watch this become a national program.”

The Tigers, who finished 25-8, went 8-18 in 2012 and have gradually gotten better since.

SMSU advances to a region title game for the first time since 2009, when the Mustangs beat Augustana.

The Mustangs tied the school record for wins with the victory over East Central, bringing their record to 28-5.

They will take on Northwest Missouri State on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“I’m proud to be here, and I’m proud to be a part of this team,” senior Mitch Weg said. “We’ve been trying to get to the regional championship since preseason. Sometimes people say you shouldn’t be looking so far ahead, but we’ve put in the work. Regardless of who we play on Tuesday, we’ll be ready to go.”

East Central 34 36 – 70

SMSU 33 41 – 74

SCORING: SMSU 26-60, 43.3 percent (Bruggeman 9-16, 10-12 29; Schafer 4-10 5-6 15; Bartlett 4-11 0-1 9; Kirk 3-4 0-2 6; Weg 2-5 2-2 6; Lee 2-4 0-0 5; Davis 1-5 0-0 2; Moen 1-5 0-1 2).

3-POINT FGS: SMSU 5-16, 31.3 percent (Schafer 2; Three with 1).

REBOUNDS: SMSU 41 (Weg 12; Moen 9; Kirk 8; Bruggeman 6; Bartlett 4; Lee 1).

ASSISTS: SMSU 8 (Bruggeman 4; Moen 2; Lee, Davis 1).

STEALS: SMSU 8 (Moen 3; Bruggeman, Davis 2).

BLOCKS: SMSU 6 (Bartlett 3; Three with 1).

FOULS: SMSU 18.

TURNOVERS: SMSU 13.

SATURDAY

SMSU 93,

Arkansas Tech 82

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Southwest Minnesota State put together a late surge to earn a 93-82 win over Arkansas Tech in their NCAA DII Central Regional game on Saturday.

Mustang coach Brad Bigler said the Wonder Boys didn’t make it easy on them.

“I thought Arkansas Tech really gave us a lot of trouble on the defensive end,” he said. “They put us in some isolation sets where they had the advantage. In the second half, we had to revert to a zone. That allowed us to get some momentum, which helped carry us to victory.”

Arkansas Tech grabbed a 48-46 lead going into the second half, and the game stayed close until the 13:05 mark in the second half, when a Turner Moen layup put the Mustangs up 65-57.

The Wonder Boys pulled back within three points with 12:23 to go, but the Mustangs countered by pushing the lead back to eight with 9:38 left.

SMSU pushed its lead to 86-74 with 4:18 left thanks to a Ryan Bruggeman bucket, and Tech never recovered.

The Mustangs also benefitted from committing just six turnovers in the contest.

“You can’t make mistakes that are going to hurt you,” Bigler said. “Any time you have turnovers that lead to points, those are huge momentum plays. Arkansas Tech is really great at getting hands on balls and creating chaos. For us to have just six turnovers is a big compliment to our ball handlers”

Senior Joey Bartlett scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and finished with two steals.

Bartlett is especially thankful to be in this position in his senior year. The fact that the Mustangs had a down year last season (12-17) only added to the excitement.

“We’ve been working really hard, and we’ve been through a lot,” Bartlett said. “I know some of the guys were redshirts that year. I went through the same thing as a redshirt. As a senior, I’m just trying to play every possession like its may last. I’m very fortunate that we’ve turned things around. I’m really happy to be where were at.

Michael Lee – a former standout at Dawson-Boyd High School – had 14 points, which tied his career high.

“My teammates just found me open at the 3-point line,” Lee said. “I just shot it, and it felt good. Ryan (Bruggeman) did a great job of driving and kicking. I think most of them were all assisted, so I wasn’t doing much besides catching and shooting.”

SMSU shot 10 of 25 from 3-point range while Tech shot 12 of 36.

Bigler said it was nice to have his sophomore forward back and healthy.

“We had a little bit of a scare last week,” Bigler said. “He’s really big for us on the defensive end. It allows us to be a little more creative. We can put him on some different guys. I think that came into play in the second half.”

It wasn’t just the 3-point line that made a difference, however. The Mustangs made six more free throws (21) than the Wonder Boys attempted (15).

Tech coach Chad Kline said that, as well as a few other things that didn’t go his team’s way, were hard to overcome.

“That’s a recipe for disaster,” Kline said. “When you outbound them and only turn it over nine times, you’d think you’d have a chance. To their credit, you still have to make the shot. They stepped up and hit some big shots.”

Arkansas Tech 48 34 – 82

SMSU 46 47 – 93

SCORING: SMSU 31-64, 48.4 percent (Bartlett 6-12 10-14 25; Kirk 6-8 3-4 15; Lee 4-8 3-5 14; Bruggeman 5-10 2-2 12; Schafer 3-9 2-2 9; Davis 3-8 0-0 8; Moen 2-3 1-2 6; Weg 2-6 0-0 4).

3-POINT FGS: SMSU 10-25, 40 percent (Lee, Bartlett 3; Davis 2; Moen, Schafer 1).

REBOUNDS: SMSU 41 (Bartlett 9; Moen 6; Three with 4; Lee, Kirk 2; Schafer 1).

ASSISTS: SMSU 13 (Bruggeman 9; Four with 1).

STEALS: SMSU 8 (Bruggeman, Bartlett 2; Four with 1).

BLOCKS: SMSU 4 (Bartlett 2; Kirk, Davis 1).

FOULS: SMSU 14.

TURNOVERS: SMSU 6.

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