Photo by Jake McNeill Southwest Minnesota State guard Cliff McCray (left) pushes past a St. Cloud State defender in the Mustangs’ 69-58 win over the Huskies in Marshall Friday night.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State mens basketball team pulled away after a first-half lull for 69-58 win over St. Cloud State in Marshall Friday night.

Dunwa Omot put on a one-man show in the first half for the Mustangs. He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting. The rest of the SMSU starting lineup combined for 13 points on 3-16 shooting.

“We had a good weekend last weekend, but unfortunately we just had a bad rhythm tonight,” SMSU head coach Brad Bigler said. “We had a lot of matchups that are favorable for us, but that doesn’t mean when you get in a favorable matchup that you have to shoot it every time.”

Omot finished the game with 23 points on 7-14 shooting.

Ball movement was a struggle for SMSU. It committed seven first-half turnovers with one assist in the first half. The assist came from Majok Majouk, with under a minute remaining in the half.

“St. Cloud was going under on every screen, and they’re really gapping, so our ability to make others better or worse was hindered basically just because of their defensive scheme,” Bigler said of the team’s playmaking struggles.

The Mustangs finished the game with four assists and 14 turnovers. Omot was the only Mustang with multiple assists.

St. Cloud State built up some momentum in the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 21-13 lead. Yet, the Mustangs battled back and went into halftime tied. From there, SMSU was able to find some consistency in the second half to take control of the game.

“Kind of just stay true to what we’re all about, have each other’s back on defense, and make each other better,” Bigler said when asked about the team’s second-half adjustments. “I thought we had some better ball movement and a few rounds in the second half where we kind of gave ourselves a little bit of cushion.”

Majouk was second on the team in rebounding, with eight rebounds, but struggled from the field. He shot 1-9 on the night including 0-6 from beyond the arc.

Jake Phipps led the Mustangs in rebounding with 10 boards, including five on the offensive glass. His shots weren’t falling on the night, as he went 2-8 from the field, but he still scored 10 points to get a double-double.

The Mustangs outrebounded the Huskies 49-34 on the night, leading to a 21-11 advantage in second-chance points for SMSU.

Mustangs led by 4 points with 34 seconds remaining, but a string of intentional fouls by St. Cloud State to extend the game allowed the Mustangs to knock down seven free throws and extend their final lead to 11 points.

The Mustangs went 25-30 from the charity stripe, including 10-11 by Omot.

SMSU (12-6, NSIC 8-5) will return to action today at 3:30 p.m. when they host Minnesota-Duluth.