Photo courtesy of Kelly Loft The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team pose for a photo after defeating Concordia-St. Paul 89-76 Saturday. SMSU won the NSIC South Division by outright with the victory and a loss from Upper Iowa.

ST. PAUL – Southwest Minnesota State held off a late Concordia-St. Paul charge, to earn an 89-76 victory, in NSIC men’s basketball and capture the outright NSIC South Division championship on Saturday at the Gangelhoff Center.

SMSU’s win, along with Upper Iowa’s overtime loss at Augustana, gives the Mustangs its first division championship since division were formed prior to the 2012-13 season.

SMSU coach Brad Bigler said getting to this point in the season is a testament of all the hard work they have done all year.

“It’s great to be able to be in the position that we are in,” said Bigler. “We’ve worked extremely hard this season and I’m thankful for we’ve been able to accomplish.”

SMSU, ranked No. 3 in this week’s NCAA region rankings, improves to 22-5 overall, 17-5 NSIC. The victory was also SMSU’s 12th “true” road victory of the season, setting a new school record.

SMSU will host Minnesota Duluth in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday night starting at 7 p.m. The game is a “White Out”, with all fans encouraged to wear white in support of the Mustangs.

Taylor Schafer paced the Mustangs with a career-high 25 points, connecting on 8 of 15 field goals, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Carter Kirk added 13 points, while Michael Lee (12), Ryan Bruggeman (12) and Joey Bartlett (10) also finished in double figure scoring.

SMSU shot 59 percent (30 of 51) from the field, while making 11 of 23 from 3-point land. The Mustangs led by 28 points early in the second half, but CSP would not go away and trimmed the deficit to seven points with 46 seconds remaining, but SMSU made clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

CSP’s Bryndan Matthews scored a team-high 18 points and dished out seven assists.

SMSU committed just three turnovers in the first half, but finished with 15 for the game, which led to 24 points for CSP.

After CSP held a 12-7 lead in the opening five and a half minutes, 3-pointers by Schafer, Bartlett and Lee gave SMSU a 16-12 at the 12:54 mark.

SMSU was red-hot from the field in the game’s first 10 minutes, connecting on four 3-pointers, to build a 25-15 lead midway through the half following a pair of Schafer free throws following a technical foul on the CSP bench.

The blistering shooting would continue as SMSU finished the first 20 minutes shooting 61 percent from the field with eight 3-pointers to build a 51-28 halftime lead. Schafer drilled four 3-pointers and paced the Mustangs with 18 points in the opening half.

SMSU’s 51 first half point total was its highest in a first half this season.

The Mustangs would extend the lead to 57-29 with 18 minutes left in the game before the Golden Bears rallied with 11 straight points to cut the margin to 57-40 at the 14:49 mark. SMSU answered with five straight free throw to halt the streak.

Bigler said he was pleased with his team’s ability to stay calm during Concordia’s comeback and earn the victory.

“You’ve got to give Concordia credit,” said Bigler. “They were scrappy all game and pressing us and getting points off our mistakes. I liked how we were able to regroup, get some defensive stops and make some free throws down the stretch.”

SMSU closed the game making 18 of 23 free throws.

SMSU 51 28 – 89

CSP 28 48 – 76

SCORING: SMSU 30-51, 58.8 percent (Schafer 8-15 4-4 25; Kirk 6-9 1-4 13; Lee 4-5 0-0 12; Bruggeman 2-3 8-8 12; Bartlett 4-6 1-2 10; Moen 3-7 2-3 9; Davis 3-5 2-2 8).

3-POINT FGS: SMSU 11-23, 47.8 percent (Schafer 5; Lee 4; Bartlett, Moen 1).

REBOUNDS: SMSU 30 (Moen, Davis 7; Bartlett, Kirk 4; Weg 3; Lee, Schafer 2; Bruggeman 1).

ASSISTS: SMSU 21 (Bruggeman 10; Moen, Osmundson 4; Three with 1).

STEALS: SMSU 11 (Davis 3; Three with 2; Weg, Bartlett 1).

BLOCKS: SMSU 3 (Three with 1).

FOULS: SMSU 18.

TURNOVERS: SMSU 15.

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications