Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University forward Aeron Stevens (front) reacts after the final buzzer of the Mustangs' Northern State Intercollegiate Conference mens basketball win over Wayne State, Saturday in Marshall. The Mustangs overcame an 18-point halftime deficit to claim a 75-71 win to get back above .500 in conference play.

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MARSHALL — Improved ball security and a big second-half from Jakob Braaten helped the Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team mount an improbable comeback against Wayne State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday. The Mustangs trailed by 18 points at the half, but SMSU took better care of the ball after the break and Braaten exploded for 20 second-half points to lead the Mustangs to a 75-71 win.

SMSU took its first lead of the game 11 minutes into the second half when Mekhi Shaw converted a layup for a 55-53 lead, and knocked down a free throw on the Mustangs’ next trip down the floor to give SMSU a 3-point cushion.

Wayne State wasn’t ready to give up, however; the Mustangs never got their lead up to more than 5 points, but they also never let the Wildcats tie the game back up or take the lead.

A Braaten layup with 61 seconds to play gave SMSU a 73-68 lead, but Darshan Thomas responded with a 3-pointer and the Wildcats forced a turnover from Braaten to get the opportunity to tie the game with 21 seconds left.

Still, SMSU locked down defensively to force a Matt Noll miss, and Micah Schlaak grabbed the defensive rebound and knocked down both of his free throws with six seconds to play to ice the game.

Schlaak got off to a hot start, making each of his three field goal attempts with a pair of 3-pointers for 8 points at the half. Yet, the rest of the team shot 28% from the field and 20% from 3-point range as the Mustangs went into the locker room trailing 42-28. Schlaak finished the night with 13 points, tying Aeron Stevens as SMSU’s second-leading scorer.

Braaten scored 2 points on 1 of 4 shooting in the first half, but came alive after the break. He finished the night with 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field and knocked down 10 of his 11 free-throw attempts. Braaten’s six assists also tied Noll for a game-high, and his five steals put him one-up on Noll for a game-high.

The Wildcats outscored the Mustangs 16-0 in points off turnovers and 10-0 in fastbreak points in the first half, led by four steals from Noll and another pair apiece from Aurrion Harris and JJ Ferrin. Steals from Braaten and Shaw gave SMSU their only takeaways of the frame.

SMSU improves to 3-4 (2-1 NSIC) with the win and hosts Division III North Central on Monday at 11 a.m. for Elementary Day.