Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s KJ Davis soars in for the layup during their game against Bemidji State University on Saturday. The Mustangs defeated the Beavers 78-72.

MARSHALL – With the score tied at 70 and less than two minutes left in their game against Bemidji State University, the Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team had an open look from behind the 3-point line to retake the lead. But when that open look hit the back of the rim and went high into the air, both teams knew whoever came down with that rebound would control the outcome of the game.

Fortunately for the Mustangs, Michael Lee jumped higher than everyone else.

The SMSU junior was able to come down with a key offensive rebound, keep the Mustangs’ possession alive in the process. The ball would eventually find its way to Carter Kirk, who got fouled on a layup for a chance to complete the 3-point play. He would hit the free throw, giving SMSU a 73-70 lead with just 1:37 left.

After a pair of misses from the Beavers, SMSU extended its lead to five on a Kirk layup with 39 seconds left. Bemidji State would have chances to cut into the deficit, but struggles from the free-throw line kept the Beavers off the scoreboard while the Mustangs connected on three of their four attempts from the line over the final 26 seconds to seal the victory.

The Mustangs jumped out to a quick start, going up 7-2 in the opening minutes before a 3-pointer from KJ Davis pushed SMSU’s lead to 12-6. Bemidji State got back to within two on a 3-pointer of its own with 13 minutes left and later added a layup to tie things up. SMSU countered with a small run of its own over the next few minutes, highlighted by a layup by Kenny Byers and a 3-pointer from Taylor Schafer put the Mustangs back up five.

The two teams would trade points over the next few minutes, with BSU taking its first lead of the night with just over nine minutes remaining, but another triple from Schafer maintained a five-point advantage for SMSU with seven minutes to go.

A few minutes later, the Beavers got a 3-pointer from Bader to bring BSU to within two at 30-28 with 4:30 left, but SMSU countered with a key 8-0 run to close the first half, including a tough layup from Ryan Bruggeman to beat the buzzer to give SMSU a 10-point lead going into the locker rooms.

The Mustangs would boost their halftime lead in the early stages of the second half, going up as much as 12 thanks to a 3-point play from Kirk before another BSU run whittled SMSU’s lead down to single digits, cutting the deficit to five with 11 minutes to go. The Beavers later got it down to within three with seven minutes left before making it just a one-point game at 62-61 on the ensuing possession.

With the Mustangs holding a three-point lead, Bemidji State got a long distance connection from Christian Pekarek tied things up at 68 with 3:26 remaining. After a turnover by the Mustangs on their next trip up the floor, the SMSU defense came up with a big stop when Davis cut off a pass and took it coast to coast for the breakaway layup to give SMSU the lead back at 70-68. On the next Beaver possession, Logan Bader connected on another basket to make it 70-70 to set the stage for the thrilling finish.

SMSU coach Brad Bigler said their mistakes in the first half threw off their rhythm and allowed Bemidji to get back into the game.

“I just thought those first half turnovers really threw us off. We were making careless mistakes and that really took our confidence away from us,” Bigler said. “After that, it ended up being a pretty tough basketball game.”

Kirk led the way for the Mustangs with a career-high 25 points and snatched 10 rebounds to record his seventh double-double of the year while Davis added 17 points. Moen also grabbed 10 rebounds for a career-high on the glass while Bruggeman led in assists with seven despite going 1 of 8 from the field.

Bigler said he was pleased with Kirk and Davis’ performances, especially down the stretch, and was happy to see those guys step into the leadership role.

“I thought both of those guys were really good down the stretch and took high-percentage shots,” Bigler said. “Not very often do we see Ryan have an off-night, but it was good to see those guys step up and take over the load.”

Davis said when they are able to create a rhythm on the offensive end, they can be tough to stop.

“I feel like when we have a rhythm out there, we’re pretty hard to stop. When we start turning the ball over and get careless with the ball, that’s when the other team is able to go on runs,” Davis said. “But once we get that rhythm and we come together and play as a team, we’re tough to beat.”

The Mustangs finished with a shooting percentage of 46 percent (30 of 65). On the other side, SMSU withstood a second-half shooting barrage from BSU after the Beavers connected on a blazing 63 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes. SMSU’s defense also forced 13 turnovers and recorded nine steals as a team.

Bigler said defensively they switched up their gameplan to try and slow down the hot-shooting Beavers, and got some key stops down the stretch.

“They were getting everything they wanted, so we tried to switch our defenses towards the end of the game,” Bigler said. “We changed from the matchups and were fortunate to get a couple of stops.”

SMSU (13-5) will look to continue its winning ways this weekend with a road trip to face Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State University, Mankato.