SMSU MEN’S BASKETBALL: SMSU drops overtime thriller to USF
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MARSHALL -- After a two-week break, the Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team came back home to start the New Year with a matchup against the University of Sioux Falls. The Mustangs battled back late in the second half to force overtime, but a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the extra session were enough to lift the Cougars to a 72-71 victory on Sunday at the R/A Facility.
With the score deadlocked at 54-54 with two minutes left, Sioux Falls would get a layup with 50 seconds left to take a 56-54 lead before a free throw gave them a three-point lead with 39 seconds left. The two teams traded points until Kenny Byers got a layup to draw the deficit to one at 59-58 with 9.5 seconds left. USF would get fouled on the ensuing possession and make a free throw to take a 60-58 lead, but Byers answered with a pair of free throws to tie things at 60-60 and force overtime.
In the overtime period, SMSU got a strong start, as Cliff McCray got a jumper before Dunwa Omot connected on a 3-pointer to give the Mustangs a 67-62 advantage with 3:05 left. USF kept battling, though, getting a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to one before a jumper by the Cougars gave them a 70-69 lead with 24 seconds left. Byers would get fouled with 9.8 seconds left and make both free throws to put SMSU in front at 71-70, but USF drew a foul on the other end with 1.6 seconds remaining and made both free throws to ultimately earn a 72-71 victory.
"I'm proud of the guys of how we executed in that end-of-game situation to give ourselves a chance to go to overtime," SMSU coach Brad Bigler said. "Then in overtime, we had an opportunity to kind of finish them but not executing in a different way, so there were a lot of learning moments and we just need to continue to get a little bit better on understanding where to put ourselves and how to handle those certain situations."
It was back and forth to start, with SMSU going up 4-2 before a USF layup tied things up at 6-6 with 14:40 left in the first half. USF would take a 12-10 lead on a jumper with 9:52 left, but the Mustangs had an answer, as a dunk by McCray and a jumper and 3-pointer by Anthony Costello highlighted a 9-0 run and gave SMSU a 24-15 lead with 5:25 left. The Mustangs continued to maintain their advantage, with a Grant Kramer layup making it 28-20 with 2:20 left before USF drew the deficit to three at 30-27 at halftime.
The two teams traded points to start the second half, as a 3-pointer by USF drew them to within two at 36-34 with 14:30 left before a pair of free throws by the Cougars tied things up at 40-40 with 10:12 left. SMSU would go on a 6-0 run to take a 46-40 lead with 8:44 left, but USF had an answer, using an 8-2 burst to tie things up at 48-48 with six minutes left.
The tight play continued over the next few minutes, with USF getting a 3-pointer to take a 54-50 lead with 3:35 left before a pair of free throws and a jumper from Byers tied things at 54-54 with two minutes left, paving the way for the close finish.
Byers led SMSU with 23 points while McCray added 14 and Omot had 13. McCray led in rebounds with 12 while Kramer led in assists with two. As a team, SMSU shot 39.3% (22 of 56) from the field, including just two of eight (25%) from 3-point range, but made 25 of its 29 free throw attempts.
Bigler said their key offensively was their ability to get multiple attacks to the paint which allowed higher quality scoring chances down the stretch.
"I thought we weren't so much aggressive off the initial attack, it was our second and our third ones where the ball was moving a little better and we were able to get a second paint touch which allowed us to be a little more efficient," Bigler said.
Defensively, SMSU held USF to 32.8% shooting (21 of 64) from the field and forced 10 turnovers.
Up next
SMSU (8-5 overall, 4-4 NSIC) will continue its homestand next weekend, taking on Minot State University on Friday at 5:30 p.m. before facing the University of Mary on Saturday at 3:30 p.m
USF 72, SMSU 71 (OT)
USF 27 33 12 - 72
SMSU 30 30 11 - 71
Scoring: SMSU (Byers 5-16, 13-16 23; McCray 6-14, 2-2 14; Omot 4-6, 4-4 13; Costello 2-5, 4-5 9; Phipps 2-6, 0-0 4; Kramer 2-2, 0-0 4; Benson 1-1, 0-0 2; Schwartz 0-6, 2-2 2).
Rebounds: SMSU 48 (McCray 12; Costello 8).
Assists: SMSU 6 (Kramer 2; McCray, Benson, Byers, Omot 1).
Steals: SMSU 7 (McCray 5).