Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State University forward Calvin Buss (right) dunks over Minot State's Isaiah Alexander during the second half of a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference mens basketball game on Friday in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team found an early spark in its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup against the Minot State Beavers on Friday night. The Mustangs got off to a hot start and never looked back, leading by as many as 25 points en route to a 72-60 win to retain a share of first place in the conference standings.

Micah Schlaak spurred SMSU to a 7-0 run to start the game. He initiated one of the early baskets by jumping the passing lane for a steal before going coast-to-coast for a layup, and the Mustangs manipulated the Minot defense for 34 seconds before Schlaaak caught a grenade in the corner and beat the shot clock buzzer for a 3 to cap off SMSU’s early run.

The game was the third in a row that SMSU opened with a strong scoring run after starting up 8-0 and 10-0 in wins over Minnesota Duluth and Bemidji State last week, a trend that SMSU head coach Brad Bigler attributed to the Mustangs’ defense.

“Obviously, if they have 0 [points, we’re doing well]… so I’d just say defensively, it’s our ability to come prepared and make them work for everything,” Bigler said. “There aren’t a lot of defenses like ours, so that first five minutes when they’re seeing it, it’s an adjustment for them, too. For us to take advantage of that five minus is big.”

Schlaak finished the night with a team-high 17 points for the Mustangs on 6 of 9 shooting from the field and 4 of 7 shooting from beyond the arc. Mason Lund and Mekhi Shaw added 14 and 12 points, respectively, while four more Mustangs scored 5 or more points.

“We have great ball-handlers, whether it be Braaten or Mekhi or Landon [Pokorski], they’re able to get down to the center of the court and kick it to open 3s. All of my 3s were from passes like that,” Schlaak said, also crediting the team’s forwards such as Aeron Stevens, Lund and Calvin Buss for grabbing rebounds to set up those possessions.

As a team, SMSU shot 52% from the field and 42% from 3 on 24 attempts in the game. The Mustangs’ consistent passing helped them get in position for easy buckets; Braaten and Shaw each dished out four assists in the game while Schlaak logged another three without a turnover.

The Beavers got going in transition early and often, but the Mustang defense shined to shut down a series of 2-on-1 fastbreaks and limit the Beavers to 2 fast-break points. The Mustangs’ success in transition came largely from pure effort, Schlaak said, adding that it’s not a part of the game that SMSU works on often in practice but that the work they put in behind the scenes pays off through their in-game effort.

“I thought we did a great job of anticipating and being there early on the help,” Bigler said, adding that he felt it forced Minot to shift its shot selection in the second half.

SMSU limited Minot to 26% shooting from the field and 1 of 12 shooting from 3-point range in the first half, while the Mustangs shot 54% from the field and 5 of 15 from long range before the break.

The Beavers had just three players score in the first half, getting 7 points each from Deuce Benjamin and Darik Dissette and another pair from Kiku Parker Jr. The rest of the team shot a combined 0 of 10 from the field.

Dissette and Benjamin each shot 6 of 14 from the field in the game, leading the Beavers with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Dissette’s three offensive and eight total rebounds were also both team-highs, though the Beavers turned their 12 offensive boards and plus-eight rebounding advantage into just 9 second-chance points.

Holding a 9-13 lead, the Mustangs pulled away with another 10-0 run. Brayson Boike got the streak started with back-to-back 3-pointers off assists from Schlaak, and a pair of free throws from Stevens and a Lund layup allowed the Mustangs to continue padding their lead.

Minot ended the drought with a Dissette layup, but SMSU held the Beavers scoreless for the next six minutes to bring their advantage to 30-11.

SMSU’s lead eclipsed 20 points when Braaten came up with a steal to set up a Schlaak 3, and Shaw snagged another pair of steals to assist a Braaten layup and score another himself to bring the score to 37-14. SMSU went into halftime with a 39-16 lead.

SMSU was aggressive in the passing lanes throughout the night. Shaw accounted for 5 of the Mustangs’ 12 steals and Schlaak snagged another three, leading to a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers.

The Mustangs’ lead reached its zenith when Stevens scored the first points of the second half to give SMSU a 25-point cushion, but the Beavers responded from there.

Trey Brandt got Minot with back-to-back 3-pointers to lead the Beavers on an 8-0 run, trimming the gap to 17 points. Minot treaded water to stay within striking distance until 4 points from Dissette and another pair each from Benjamin and Isaiah Alexander made it a 10-point game, 47-37, with 13 minutes to play.

“Our rim protection, our help was slow [in the second half], and they were able to get to the rim on that last step or that last drop dribble, but the first half we were just great defensively as a unit and tried to force them to score tough shots,” Bigler said.

That was as close as the Beavers got, however. SMSU pulled back ahead by as many as 18 points before Minot State cut it back to 10 with two-and-a-half minutes to play. Still, the Mustangs made shots down the stretch to hold on for the win.

SMSU has a stretch of four consecutive missed free throws and missed seven out of 10 over the course of Minot State’s run. The Mustangs shot 12 of 21 from the line for the game, something SMSU will need to improve on going forward, Bigler said.

Schlaak’s step forward

Schlaak sat out his true freshman season for the Mustangs last year but has been an immediate difference-maker this season. His 11.9 points per game on 54-47-80 shooting splits have been big for the Mustangs’ scoring efforts, and his 1.4 blocks per game rank third in the NSIC.

“I didn’t know what my role would look like coming into the season, but we put a lot of work in over the offseason so I knew I might get some looks,” Schlaak said, adding that he felt that his defensive skillset meshed with the teams needs in a way that made room for his increase in minutes.

Up next

SMSU improves to 12-5 overall with the win, and their 9-2 conference record keeps them tied with St. Cloud State for first place in the NSIC. The Mustangs will look to keep at least a share of that title when they host UMary tonight at 5 p.m.