FAYETTE, Iowa – Southwest Minnesota State connected on 13 3-pointers, shot 57 percent from the field and held off a late Upper Iowa charge to earn a 91-87 victory in NSIC men’s basketball on Saturday night at Dorman Gymnasium.

Ryan Bruggeman was one of six SMSU players to reach double figure scoring as he poured in a team-high 21 points, while also dishing out eight assists with six rebounds. Taylor Schafer had a big game for the Mustangs as he drilled three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Michael Lee connected on four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points and also pulled down five rebounds. Kenny Byers closed the game with four clutch free throws in the final minute and recorded 12 points, while Nick Dufault and Braedan Hanson each chipped in with 10 points.

SMSU, which improves to 11-9 overall, 6-8 NSIC, shot 57 percent (35 of 61) from the field, which is its highest percentage in 14 league games this season.

UIU (6-14, 3-11 NSIC) shot 51 percent (34 of 67), including making 15 of 35 3-point attempts. The Peacocks were led by Jareese Williams, who scored a game-high 22 points with six 3-pointers.

The Mustangs, which led for more than 32 minutes in the contest, fell behind at 34-33 with 4:25 left in the first half, but field goals by Bruggeman and Schafer and the first career 3-pointer by Grant Kramer pushed the lead for SMSU to 40-34 with two minutes remaining. Bruggeman later hit on another field goal to push the margin to eight points before the Mustangs settled for a 42-36 halftime advantage.

SMSU would maintain the lead for the remainder of the game, but not before UIU made several comeback attempts. Kramer hit a field goal with 12:18 left in the second half to give SMSU a 59-52 lead, but UIU would later rally with five straight points to make the score 59-57. Schafer then ended the run with a clutch 3-pointer and give SMSU a 62-57 edge midway through the second half.

UIU would later cut the deficit to 72-70 at the 4:26 mark, but Lee came through with a 3-pointer to give SMSU a 75-70 lead with 3:53 left in the game.

The Peacocks followed with a field goal to make it a one possession game, but Hanson answered with back-to-back field goals to fend off the comeback attempt and push the margin to 79-72 with 2:20 left.

Bruggeman would then score on a layup, connect on a pair of jumpers and hit two free throws to build an 87-77 lead with 17 seconds remaining. UIU wouldn’t quit and scored seven straight points-aided by an SMSU technical foul-to cut the lead to 87-84 with eight seconds remaining. Byers then hit two free throws to give SMSU a two possession lead, before UIU drilled another 3-pointer to make the score 89-87. Byers would seal the win with two more free throws with less than a second left as SMSU earned its second straight win in Fayette and fourth overall in the series.

Southwest Minnesota State returns home next Friday, Feb. 1, to face Minnesota Crookston with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m. SMSU will then take on Bemidji State on Saturday, Feb. 2, for the annual “Hawaiian Night” game.

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications