ST. CLOUD — The Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team led by 4 points in the final 30 seconds of its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup against St. Cloud State on Thursday, but that thin cushion proved not to be enough for a win. The Huskies scored 6 unanswered points in the final 21 seconds to down SMSU 49-47, preventing the Mustangs from cutting into the Huskies’ lead in the conference standings.

A pair of Jakob Braaten free throws gave the Mustangs a 47-43 lead with 33 seconds left to play when the Huskies went into attack mode. Micah Schlaak came up with a block for the Mustangs with 26 seconds to play, but St. Cloud got the offensive rebound and Luke Winkel took advantage with a 3-pointer to cut the gap to a single point.

Wyatt Hawks came up with a steal on a turnover by Aeron Stevens, and Schlaak sent Anish Ramlall to the line for the go-ahead free throws.

Stevens, in turn, went to the line for SMSU down a point with 9 seconds left, but he missed both attempts. Another Hawks free throw gave the Huskies a 2-point edge with five seconds left, and Mekhi Shaw’s game-winning 3-point attempt fell no good as St. Cloud held on for the win.

Stevens finished the night as SMSU’s leading scorer, scoring 14 points on 4 of 16 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 shooting from the line. Braaten and Shaw added 11 and 9 points, respectively, as the Huskies limited SMSU to 34% shooting from the field and 3 of 17 shooting from 3-point range.

In a battle of two of the NSIC’s top defensive teams, SMSU also limited St. Cloud’s scoring efficiency. The Huskies shot 35% from the field and 4 of 20 from 3-point range, led by Winkel’s 12 points and Azayah Washington’s 11.

Thursday night’s game featured 11 tied scores and 11 lead changes throughout the night. The teams battled back and forth throughout, though SMSU built up a 23-22 lead at halftime.

St. Cloud State built up a 14-5 edge on the offensive glass, led by 15 total and four offensive rebounds from Hawks. The rebounding gap resulted in an 11-4 edge in second-chance points for the Huskies.

Braaten led SMSU with six rebounds, as well as four assists on two turnovers.

Shaw came away with four steals in the game while Schlaak blocked three shots.

SMSU falls to 14-8 overall on the season, and its third consecutive loss leaves it at 12-5 in conference play. A week after being tied for first in the conference with St. Cloud, the Mustangs are now in third place, trailing St. Cloud State by three games and Augustana by one.

The Mustangs will look to regain their mid-season momentum when they go to the Taylor Center on Saturday to take on Minnesota State at 3 p.m. The Mavericks, sitting at 16-9 overall and 10-7 in conference play, are one of the NSIC’s hottest teams, riding a nine-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup.