Photo by Sam Thiel SMSU’s Grant Kramer drives into the lane during their game against St. Cloud State University on Friday. The Mustangs fell to the Huskies 77-70.

MARSHALL — St. Cloud State scored 24 points off of 17 Southwest Minnesota State turnovers to earn a 77-70 victory on Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men’s basketball inside the R/A Facility.

SCSU, which won its third straight game, improves to 6-4 overall, 3-1 NSIC, while SMSU dropped its fourth straight game is now 3-7, 0-4 NSIC.

SMSU used an 8-0 run in the second half to tie the game at 61 with 6:30 remaining in the game, but SCSU answered with two straight field goals and never trailed again to earn the victory.

SCSU scored 30 fast break points compared to just three for SMSU and held a 24-8 scoring edge on points off of turnovers.

Kenny Byers led SMSU with a career-high 27 points on 11 of 19 shooting with three 3-pointers. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Weston Baker Magrath added 10 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Huskies were led by Trevon Marshall, who poured in 25 points on 8 of 15 shooting and added nine of 11 from the free throw line. Anthony Roberts scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. SCSU closed the game shooting 48 percent (28 of 58) from the field and made 17 of 22 from the free throw line.

SMSU finished the game shooting 51 percent (28 of 55) from the field, including a solid 10 of 19 from 3-point range. The Mustangs struggled from the foul line, making just 4 of 11.

SCSU started the game strong jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes. SMSU would slowly cut into the deficit and regained the lead at 18-17 following a 3-pointer by Nick Dufault at the 11:46 mark.

Dufault would later hit another a 3-pointer to push the lead to 25-21, SMSU’s largest of the half, with 9:25 remaining.

SCSU would counter with an 11-2 run to regain the lead at 32-27 following a steal and layup by Caleb Donaldson with just under four minutes remaining in the half. The lead would eventually move to 37-31, before Kenny Byers scored a pair of field goal to cut the Huskies lead to two points. Marshall would close the half with a jumper to give SCSU a 39-35 halftime advantage.

SCSU scored 13 fast break points in the first half and held a 13-5 scoring advantage in points off of turnovers.

Both teams shot well in the first half with SMSU shooting 57 percent, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, while SCSU connected on 53 percent shooting.

SCSU would extend the lead to 45-38 early in the second half, before SMSU mounted a rally to cut the lead to 47-45 following a Braedan Hanson jumper at the 15:42 mark.

SCSU would push the advantage to eight points on two occasions over the next four minutes, including 61-53 with just under 12 minutes left in the game. The Mustang defense would then step up and hold the Huskies scoreless for nearly six minutes as SMSU rallied to tie the game. SMSU also struggled offensively during the six minutes stretch, but scored eight straight points to tie the game. Andy Stafford hit two field goals to bring SMSU to within 61-59, before Brian Dayman scored with 6:30 left to tie the game.

Marshall and Robert would each scored field goals to put SCSU back in front at 65-61 with five and a half minutes left in the game. SMSU would later cut the deficit to 67-64 following two Byers free throws with 4:22 remaining, but answered with five straight points to lead 72-64. Dayman would hit one more 3-pointer for SMSU with 43 seconds remaining to make the score 74-70, but the Huskies made enough free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.

Southwest Minnesota State continues the weekend homestand today facing league-leading Minnesota Duluth at 6 p.m.

— Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications