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SMSU MEN’S BASKETBALL: Balancing act

Mustangs get five players in double-digit scoring, defeat Bethany Lutheran College 101-81 for third straight win

Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Kenny Byers puts up a shot during their game against Bethany Lutheran College on Monday. The Mustangs defeated the Vikings 101-81.

MARSHALL – The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team will have lots of familiarity with the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference this week. With three nonconference games against UMAC opponents, SMSU wanted to get out to a good start on Monday night against Bethany Lutheran College.

The Mustangs did just that, using a well-balanced scoring attack to create a double-digit first-half lead, and cruised to a 101-81 victory over the Vikings.

It was a tight start as the score was deadlocked at 7-7 before a 9-0 run by the Mustangs gave SMSU a 16-7 lead with 13:47 left in the first half. Bethany Lutheran would battle back, however, cutting the deficit to just three at 18-15, before both teams traded points for the majority of the half.

Near the midway mark of the opening half, the Mustangs started to get stops on defense, which ultimately led to quick transition baskets and created some separation on the scoreboard. A basket from Ryan Bruggeman gave SMSU its first double-digit advantage of the night, before a 3-pointer from Nick Dufault made it 45-27 with 4:30 left in the half. The Mustangs then closed the frame on a 12-6 run, highlighted by a Steven McNease putback layup in the final seconds, to take a 57-33 lead heading into the locker rooms.

“I thought that first 10 minutes we were really getting accustomed to our new rotations,” SMSU coach Brad Bigler said. “About halfway through the half we adapted to some things they did on defense and we were able to get a few stops in transition and were able to knock down some threes.”

SMSU continued to add to its lead in the second half, going up by as much as 30 at 78-48 with 11:42 left and never let the lead slip under 20 the rest of the way en route to its third consecutive victory.

Dufault and Taylor Schafer led the way for the Mustangs with 19 points apiece while Bruggeman added 17, Braedan Hanson had 15 and Kenny Byers had 14. McNease led in rebounds with 10 while Hanson added eight. Bruggeman led in assists with six.

Bigler said it was good to see a strong balance from his players and it was fun to watch the younger players make their impact on the game.

“The balance was good; it’s fun to see other guys step up and have big nights, especially those young guys,” Bigler said. “Having Kenny and Steven have a big night throughout filling the stat sheet, those new guys stepping into new roles it’s just fun to see those guys have success.”

Byers said their key on offense was their ability to create strong spacing on the floor and get good ball movement and making the extra pass for the best shot.

“I think everyone just was getting in a rhythm and being able to space the floor and work the ball around,” Byers said. “Making the extra pass, knowing that we shoot threes so people are going to close out hard to us, and we get a drive and make another pass for a better shot. Just getting good looks really helped us.”

As a team, the Mustangs were efficient with their shooting, connecting on 39 of 65 from the field, including 12 of 20 from beyond the arc, for a 60 percent clip in both areas.

Defensively, SMSU was able to limit BLC to 41.7 percent shooting from the field as well as creating 15 turnovers which led to 23 points off of turnovers.

Bigler said defensively, they changed their approach with defending screens and it helped with their ability to create turnovers and get in transition.

“We changed up our ball screen defense and it took them a little bit to adjust,” Bigler said. “During that time we were able to get some hands on the basketball and then we hit some threes in transition.”

SMSU (3-1) will continue its homestand with a matchup against Northland College today at 7:30 p.m.

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