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MARSHALL -- The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team followed up a pair of grind-it-out weekend wins with an 81-48 win over Northland College Monday morning. The game was maybe the most packed house the Mustangs have seen so far this season, with hundreds of elementary schoolers filling the stands for Elementary and Community day.
"This game is more than just basketball. To have the kids here, having them have a great experience was the number one priority," SMSU head coach Brad Bigler said. "Early in the game, they actually caused a couple of turnovers on the other team because the other team couldn't play through the noise. Give those kids a lot of credit, I hope they had a lot of fun."
The Mustangs came out to an early lead in the first half, largely due to the play of Dunwa Omot. He had 15 points by halftime and led SMSU to a 20-point lead at the break. He went on to finish the game with 21 points in 25 minutes on the floor.
The Mustangs' dominance in the paint was a key factor in their success. They scored as many points in the paint (48) as the Lumberjacks did in total.
Jake Phipps was also, once again, a major component of the Mustang offense. His 17 points were a season-high, and his six rebounds tied him with Jonathan Zinniel for a team-high.
For the second game in a row, the Mustangs' 3-point shooting faltered in the second half. After shooting 38.5% from 3-point range in the first half, they dipped to 25% in the second half. Yet, this time, the shift could be attributed to the increased usage of the Mustang bench in the second half.
Due to their early lead, the Mustangs were able to test their rotational depth. The mustangs had 11 players play more than four minutes in the game, and nine players play more than 17 minutes.
Zinniel, Alex Hillesheim, Lance Mosley and Jake Layman all logged season-highs in both minutes and points. Noah Chamberlain also posted a season-high in minutes played.
"Going into the holidays, you want everyone to have an opportunity to get on the floor," Bigler said. "This was perfect because it was one of those situations that allowed everyone to get a little bit of run."
Cliff McCray had another solid game as a playmaker. He tallied a game-high six assists and also came away with a steal on the defensive end.
Five minutes into the first half with the Mustangs leading by 1 point, Anthony Costello hit a 3-point shot that sparked a 16-0 run for SMSU to fully take control of the game.
While the Mustangs did a solid job of forcing turnovers, they didn't maximize the potential points from them. The Lumberjacks committed 13 turnovers, which SMSU turned into 13 points.
The Lumberjacks scored the first basket of the game, a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game, but the Mustangs took the lead shortly after and never gave it back. Northland didn't score more than 5 unanswered points all game.
Southwest Minnesota State (8-4) extends their win streak to four games with Monday's victory over the Lumberjacks. The Mustangs will have over a week off before their next game when they go on the road to face Sioux Falls Saturday, Dec. 31 at 3 p.m.
"They get seven days off, and when we come back, they get the chance to be professional basketball players because there's no school," Bigler said. "You're just all basketball. We have a lot of kind families that have us over for suppers and we kind of balance that time with basketball."
SMSU 81, Northland (Wis.) 48
SMSU 42 39
NC 22 26
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
SCORING (FG-FGA-PTS): SMSU ( Omot 9-11-21; Phipps7-8-17; Costello 5-9-12; Lund 4-9-11)
PASSING (AST-TO): SMSU (McCray 6-3; Chamberlain 4-1; Phipps 2-0; Lund 2-0)
REBOUNDING (ORB-TRB): SMSU (Phipps 3-6; Zinniel 3-6; Chamberlain 1-5; Layman 5)
DEFENSIVE (STL-BLK): SMSU (Omot 1-1; Zinniel 0-1; Phipps 1-0; McCray 1-0; Lund 1-0; Schwartz 1-0; Hillesheim 1-0)