Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Kenny Byers skies in for the layup during their “Hawaiian Night” game against Bemidji State University on Saturday. The Mustangs defeated BSU 84-62.

MARSHALL – After bringing a lot of energy and noise in a win over the University of Minnesota Crookston on Friday, the Southwest Minnesota State University men’s basketball team wanted to find a way to take it even higher as they celebrated “Hawaiian Night” against Bemidji State University Saturday.

Thanks to a senior-led offensive performance and a strong defensive outing, the Mustangs made another loud statement with an 84-62 victory over the Beavers for their third straight win and fifth in the last six games.

SMSU coach Brad Bigler felt their defensive performance overall on the weekend was one of their better ones this season and was pleased to see it translate into two more wins.

“When we have Hawaiian Night, it’s always a fun atmosphere and there’s a lot of energy in the gym,” Bigler said. “My expectations, I thought on Friday night we defended very well and I think overall this weekend was one of our better defensive performances on a back-to-back and it was rewarding to see the guys’ effort on the defensive end.”

With an announced crowd of 2,445, the Mustangs wanted to keep the energy level high to start the game. Fresh off his historic 49-point performance against the Golden Eagles the night before, Ryan Bruggeman raced to the wing and connected on a 3-pointer on the opening possession before a layup and a jumper by Kenny Byers made it 7-0. SMSU wasn’t done, as Braedan Hanson added a personal 5-0 run to push the Mustangs’ lead to 12-0 and force a Bemidji State timeout with 16:46 left in the first half.

Taylor Schafer said said it was important to get out to a strong start and it kept the crowd’s energy going and throw BSU off balance.

“It was huge. You see shots fall early, it’s going to help out the rest of the night,” Schafer said. “Giving the crowd a reason to get into it is going to help us a lot too and our fans our great, they’re the best and give us so much energy every night.”

After SMSU’s hot start, Bemidji State answered with a 5-0 run of its own before a 3-pointer cut the deficit to just four at 14-0 with 13:35 left in the first half. The Mustangs had a reply for BSU’s run, with the seniors leading the charge. A jumper by Schafer, followed by a 3-point play by Bruggeman and a 3-pointer from Michael Lee quickly pushed the Mustangs out to a 22-10 lead with 12:09 left.

The Mustangs would maintain at least a double-digit advantage throughout the next several minutes, building a lead as large as 16 on a Nick Dufault jumper, but the Beavers once again used a quick run to get themselves back in the game. A 9-0 burst by BSU shaved SMSU’s advantage to single digits at 34-27 with 4:41 left, but Lee responded with a 3-pointer to push it back to 10. The two teams would then trade points to close out the first half as SMSU headed into the locker rooms with a 39-33 lead.

Despite SMSU’s strong start to the game, the Mustangs only held a six-point advantage to begin the second half, with Bemidji State looking to continue its late first-half momentum. The two teams went back-and-forth in the opening minutes of the second frame, with a 3-pointer from the Beavers making it a five-point game at 43-38 before a pair of free throws from Schafer pushed SMSU back to a 10-point advantage.

Bemidji State once again drew to within single digits at 52-43 with 14:11 to go, but then the Mustangs defense came alive at the right time. Multiple key stops by SMSU quickly led to transition offense, as Byers and Schafer connected on back-to-back jumpers and Dufault knocked down a 3-pointer before Schafer added another basket to cap off a 9-0 spurt, propelling the Mustangs to an 18-point advantage at 61-43 with under 12 to play.

Bigler said the run was huge for not only for their team but the game as well and it gave SMSU the boost it needed at a pivotal stretch.

“That run with Michael and Ryan out of the game and those guys stepping up and getting those defensive stops, the ball movement with that group was really good and we created a lot of easy opportunities for each other as well,” Bigler said. “That was a pivotal point because it was around a nine-point game and then we shot it up and went on an 9-0 run and that was the momentum we needed going into the last 10 minutes.”

The Beavers would cut the deficit to as close as 15 with 8:35 left, but four 3-pointers by SMSU – including three of them by Lee – put it out of reach at 73-50, and the Mustangs capped off the weekend sweep with the 84-62 victory.

Schafer led the way for the Mustangs with 22 points while Bruggeman added 19 and Lee had 18, which included an efficient 6 of 8 from behind the 3-point line. Hanson led in rebounds with five while Bruggeman led in assists with seven. As a team, SMSU shot 30 of 62 (48.4 percent) from the field, including connecting on 12 of 26 from beyond the arc.

Lee said their key on offense their ability to create space with their ball movement and knock down the open shot.

“I thought we did a great job of creating space,” Lee said. “I thought everyone did a good job of making the extra pass and getting open looks. When you get open looks, everyone on the team can knock them down so it was fun to see.”

Defensively, the Mustangs kept Bemidji State in check, holding the Beavers to 40 percent shooting (23 of 57), including a dismal 6 of 25 from the perimeter while also forcing 18 turnovers.

“We were just trying to wear them down. We picked them up full-court, making them tired, making someone else bring the ball up other than Ja Morgan,” Schafer said. “Kenny and Nick did a great job of wearing their point guard down; you make someone else handle the ball, it’s hard for them to get into plays.”

SMSU (13-9 overall, 8-8 NSIC) will hit the road next weekend for a pair of very important conference matchups. The Mustangs will take on Minnesota State University Moorhead this Friday at 7:30 p.m. before heading to Northern State University this Saturday for a 6 p.m. tip-off.

Bigler said their weekend wins, along with some help of other conference teams falling, provides their team with an extra boost of confidence as they prepare for MSU Moorhead and NSU and knows they’re going to need to bring another strong performance in order to keep the success going.

“I think it provides confidence, it provides us extra motivation as we’re going into next week’s preparations. We know next week is going to be very challenging, going to Moorhead and Northern,” Bigler said. “We’re going to see Northern’s “I hate winter” night and it’s going to be a challenging week next week, so we have to be playing like this or even better if we’re going to come out with some wins.”