MARSHALL – Southwest Minnesota State University’s dynamic senior point guard Ryan Bruggeman is zeroing in on yet another career milestone – the men’s basketball all-time scoring record – needing only 34 points to eclipse the 1,638 point mark previously set by Benson native Jacob Fahl back in 2003.

Still residing in Marshall, Fahl knew that his record was bound to be broken this year, but couldn’t be happier for Bruggeman in setting a new benchmark in Mustang basketball history.

“I’m happy for him,” said Fahl. “We knew that Ryan was close when he ended the season last year, and it was just a matter of time and I couldn’t be happier.”

According to Fahl, the two share a lot of similarities in terms of competitive level and recruiting interest leading up to their days at SMSU.

“I think he came in on a small scholarship as did I,” said Fahl. “We were really nobody’s coming into Southwest and I think that’s a cool similarity between us that we’re not the best talent, didn’t come out with high regard or high accolades coming out of high school at all or anything like that. Just through perseverance and work ethic and being a little hard-nosed you can make a lot of things happen.”

Prior to entering the Mustang program during the 2014-2015 season, Bruggeman was a multi-sport athlete at Pelican Rapids High School where he also shined on the football field, garnering third-team All-State recognition and being named to the Minnesota Vikings All-Star team following the conclusion of his senior season.

According to coach Brad Bigler, Bruggeman’s multi-sport participation – along with his overall competitiveness – were the key attributes recognized by Bigler in targeting him as a recruit for the Mustangs.

“I think the one that stood out the most was just how competitive of a kid he was,” said Bigler. “We liked the fact that he was a multi-sport athlete and his willingness to pay his dues.”

Sitting out his freshman season before returning in 2015-2016 as a redshirt freshman, Bruggeman bulked up over the course of the season and the offseason to add 15 pounds of muscle to his frame in order to be better suited for the physicality of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Bigler believes this was a significant step in becoming the player that we see today.

“I think the year that he redshirted and added about 15 pounds of muscle allowed him to kind of take his game to another level,” said Bigler. “He was always decent with taking contact, but over the course of that year and going into the next year it really allowed him to change his game where he could take contact, finish through contact, and (it) has really allowed him to be durable throughout his career as well.”

In the years that followed, Bruggeman has been a fixture on the Mustangs, setting program records for assists (510), free throws made (171) and assists average (5.3) en route to being a two-time First Team All-NSIC honoree. Meeting and even exceeding the high expectations set for him along with the rest of his class of incoming freshmen, Bigler is proud of the way the group has worked to become the players they are and accomplish all that they have during that span.

“Ryan and that recruiting class as a group have really just done a great job of just being Mustangs,” said Bigler. “I think that group of guys came in with some high expectations and goals and worked extremely hard and sacrificed and took a lot of ownership and were able to accomplish a lot of things. Hopefully we can continue to do that as well going into this final year.”

For Mustang fans hoping to see the historical moment in person, Bruggeman will get his first crack at setting a new benchmark in SMSU men’s basketball history today when the team will travel to face the St. Cloud State University Huskies at 7:30 p.m.