Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University forward Steven Kramer, 5, shoots a fadeaway jump shot during the second half of a Northern Sun INtercollegiate Conference mens basketball game against Minnesota Duluth on Friday night at the R/A Facility in Marshall.

MARSHALL — Dunwa Omot scored a season-high 25 points while Steven Kramer came up with some timely scoring runs to spark the No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team’s offense in a 79-66 win over No. 11 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night. The Mustangs have now won 13 consecutive home games over the Bulldogs dating back to 2004.

“I think you’re looking at two teams that are two of the top in the country defensively, so you’re looking at two tough teams, two teams that are going to make you work for everything,” SMSU head coach Brad Bigler said. “It was just going to be a grind the whole night, getting points or easy baskets was going to be difficult all night and I thought in the end that we were able to get some layups, D [Dunwa Omot] made some really nice plays to take it to the rim, and we didn’t settle for jump shots.”

Duluth came out of the gates swinging early, jumping out to an 11-5 lead with 5 of those points coming on second-chance opportunities. The last bucket came when Austin Andrews converted an and-1 on possession with two Bulldog offensive rebounds and another pair of uncontrolled tips in the direction of the rim.

The foul on Steven Kramer on the play was his second in the game’s first five minutes, but Bigler kept him in the game.

On the ensuing Mustang possession, he knocked down a jumper to kick off a 12-0 SMSU run, including 5 points from Aeron Stevens and ending with a made free throw from Stevens. Charlie Katona converted a layup to get Duluth back on the board but a Dunwa Omot 3 and a Jakob Braaten layup made the score 22-13 in favor of the Mustangs with 8:37 remaining in the half.

Omot was efficient with his scoring all night long, shooting 9 of 16 from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point range. As a team, SMSU shot 32.8% from beyond the arc while limiting the Bulldogs to a 22.6% clip, including 2 of 15 shooting for Duluth in the first half.

“It was their matchups. We were trying to attack certain guys on the floor and D [Dunwa] had that matchup and was kind of able to take advantage of the matchup,” Bigler said.

SMSU went cold from there, missing four of their next five field goal attempts over a stretch of nearly six minutes. They also went 1 of 4 from the free-throw line. The lone makes during the stretch came from Kramer with a 3-pointer and a free throw. He went on to finish the night with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field and 4 of 5 shooting from the free-throw line.

The Bulldogs took advantage of the cold streak, eventually tying the game up at 28-28 with a pair of free throws from Andrews. Yet, Mason Lund slammed home a forceful dunk off the bounce pass from Mekhi Shaw to regain the lead. He was fouled on the play and knocked down the free throw to make the score 31-28 in favor of the Mustangs.

After Joshua Brown made it a 1-point game with a layup, Shaw responded with a pair of free throws to re-extend the Mustang lead to 3 points with 29 seconds left in the half.

Nick Katona attempted a 3 with seven seconds left and Brown got a pair of rebounds and a tip off the shot. His last rebound brought about a shot that went in, but the ball was ruled to have still been in his hand when the clock expired and SMSU’s lead remained at 33-30 at the halfway mark.

While Duluth’s rebounding advantage was just 21-19 at halftime, they held a notable 7-1 advantage on the offensive glass. The Bulldogs turned that performance into a 7-2 advantage in second-chance points.

Duluth also held an advantage in points off turnovers (7-2), points in the paint (18-16) and fast-break points (8-3) despite trailing at halftime.

“I felt like in that first half, we were so close to making a big run, Duluth’s toughness on rebounding gave them hope and kept them in the basketball game, and give them a lot of credit for that,” Bigler said.

SMSU went on to claim a 38-23 advantage in points in the paint, though UMD retained an 11-9 advantage in points off turnovers, a 15-8 advantage in fast-break points and a 10-5 advantage in second-chance points.

The Bulldogs got a stop to start the second half and Charlie Katona fought through contact to get a layup and go to the free-throw line with a chance to tie the game. His attempt fell short, but after a pair of fruitless possessions and a loose-ball foul giving the ball to Duluth, Andrews sent home a go-ahead dunk for the Bulldogs, giving the team its first lead since the first 8 minutes of the game.

Kramer, however, took the lead right back for SMSU by knocking down a fallaway jumper, a layup, a free throw and another jumper to make the score 40-34 with a 7-0 solo run.

When asked about his ability to generate offense, Kramer cited his teammates’ play, noting in particular Stevens’ ability to get to the basket nearly at will. While Stevens was relatively dormant compared to his own high standards, he still finished the night with 12 points and tied Braaten and Brown with a game-high four assists.

“Steven has that ability to get to that 15-foot [mark] and just rise up over people, and he was able to do that tonight with contact,” Bigler said. “Just rose up and finished and made some big baskets when it mattered most.”

SMSU had four scorers in double figures with Braaten also adding 10 points on 4 of 6 form the field and 2 of 2 shooting from 3-point range.

The Mustnags were competitive on the boards, falling 39-37 in the rebounding battle with Stevens, Braaten and Lund each grabbing six rebounds. Yet, they were limited to four offensive rebounds to Duluth’s 13. Omot was the only Mustang with multiple offensive rebounds, finishing with two.

The Mustangs’ lead held until an Omot 3 made the score 49-43 with 12 minutes to play. Yet, the Bulldogs battled back and a 3 from Caleb Siwek and a Nick Katona layup tied the game up at 51-all with nine minutes to play.

Aeron Stevens responded by kissing a hook off the glass with his right hand to regain the lead and Braaten nailed a 3 to make it a 5-point game again. After a pair of free throws from Charlie Katona, Omot dropped in a shot from in close to make the score 58-53 with seven minutes remaining. Still, Siwek answered with a pair of free throws and a 3 from Brown tied it back up before Calvin Buss went up and under for a go-ahead layup.

Braaten converted a 3 to make it a 5-point game before Josh Brown hit a tip-in to keep it within one possession. Just as it seemed UMD was going to get a stop to set up a tying opportunity, Kramer recovered a loose ball and, in one fluid motion, shot the jumper while fading across the paint as the buzzer expired to make the score 65-60 with 4:32 left.

Another Stevens gave SMSU a 69-63 lead with 2:32 remaining, tying its largest lead of the half. Minnesota Duluth remained close but could never get within striking distance.

Matt Thompson earned a pair of free throws with 62 seconds remaining and trailing by 6 but missed the second. A loose ball foul was called on Nick Katona on the rebound, his fifth of the night to send him to the bench for the remainder of the game as SMSU salted away the win.

In addition to limiting Duluth’s efficiency with their defense, the Mustangs weree able to create big plays when it mattered. Braaten accounted for three of the team’s five steals, had emphatic block by himself and combined for another. Stevens also had a block on the night while Omot and Shaw each grabbed a steal.

Charlie Katona and Brown led Duluth scorers with 18 and 15 points respectively, with Katona’s seven rebounds tying him with Thompson for second on the team to Brown’s nine.

SMSU improves to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in conference, while Duluth drops to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in conference. The Mustangs will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they host Concordia-St. Paul (6-2, 1-1 NSIC) today at 5:30 p.m.