MARSHALL – Southwest Minnesota State tied a school record with 19 3-pointers and closed the game shooting 66 percent from the field to earn a 96-85 victory over Fort Hays State (Kan.) in men’s college basketball on Saturday night at the R/A Facility. The game was part of the NSIC/MIAA Challenge.

SMSU’s 19 3-pointers-which set an R/A Facility record-ties the overall record set on Feb. 2, 2002, at Minnesota-Morris.

Michael Lee paced the Mustangs (1-1) with a career-high 25 points on 7 of 9 shooting, including 7 of 8 from 3-point range. Ryan Bruggeman poured in 18 points and dished out a career-high 14 assists, Nick Dufault added 18 points off the bench with five 3-pointers, while Taylor Schafer drilled four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.

SMSU jumped out to an early 18-8 advantage in the opening four and a half minutes. FHSU (0-2) cut the deficit to 25-19 at the 10:45 mark, but SMSU would push the lead back to double digits at 31-19 following a 3-pointer from Lee.

The Mustangs would maintain the lead and eventually built a 56-36 halftime lead after a 3-pointer by Lee capped off the first half. SMSU shot 77 percent (20 of 26) from the field in the first 20 minutes and made 13 of 16 from long-range.

SMSU’s Kolin Bartlett scored the first basket of the second half to make the score 58-36, but FHSU rallied with 19 straight points to trim the lead to 61-58 with 13:34 remaining.

Lee was finally able to snap the run with a 3-pointer at the 12:04 mark of the half.

SMSU pushed the lead to 71-62 with 9:52 left following a 3-pointer by Schafer, before FHSU made one last run to pull within 78-74 with 5:24 remaining. Dufault answered moments later with a 3-pointer and was followed by a Steven McNease three-point play to make the score 84-74 with 4:22 remaining and SMSU never looked back in earning its first win of the season.

FHSU was led by Marcus Cooper’s 26 points on 9 of 13 shooting. The Tigers ended the night shooting 55 percent (35 of 64) from the field, including 9 of 16 from 3-point range.

Southwest Minnesota State continues non-conference play on Wednesday night hosting Mayville State (N.D.) with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.

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