SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Southwest Minnesota State University mens basketball team’s well-rounded effort wasn’t enough to prolong its season on Saturday. The fourth-seeded Mustangs fell behind early and couldn’t climb out of the hole, falling 79-72 to No. 5 Minnesota State in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference quarterfinals.

Four Mustangs scored in double figures in the loss, led by Jakob Braaten and Mekhi Shaw’s 16 points apiece. Braaten shot 8 of 16 from the field with eight assists on three turnovers, and Shaw shot 7 of 15 with a pair of 3s and three assists on one turnover. Aeron Stevens and Mason Lund also contributed 15 and 10 points, respectively.

The two teams alternated baskets for the first four minutes before the Mavericks went on a 13-2 run, led by 7 points from Lewis Arhman. Arman and Traijan Sain led Minnesota State with 17 points each, coming on 7 of 13 shooting from the field and 3 of 6 shooting from 3-point range for Arhman. Caden Kirkman added another 13 points while Colton Benson and Malcolm Jones added another 12 points apiece.

SMSU trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half before a Braaten layup sent them into the locker room facing a 40-26 deficit.

Nine minutes into the second half, Minnesota State led 62-36 for its largest lead of the game. The Mavericks led by 23 with eight minutes left before SMSU trimmed the gap down to 71-63 with two minutes to play, but SMSU wasn’t able to complete the comeback.

SMSU built up a 44-28 edge in points in the paint and a 15-5 edge in points off turnovers, but Minnesota State shot 56% from 3 compared to SMSU’s 44% clip, each on 18 attempts, and shot 15 of 18 from the free-throw line while SMSU missed its only free-throw attempt of the game.

Micah Schlaak grabbed a team-leading five rebounds for SMSU, and contributed a pair of blocks and a steal on the defensive end, but Minnesota State outrebounded SMSU 32-21 overall and 11-10 on the offensive glass behind seven boards from Jones and another five each from Kirkman and Benson.

SMSU finishes its season at 16-12 overall with a 14-8 conference record. The Mustangs graduate Braaten, Lund, Luke Stevens and Caleb Schlaak.