Box Score
BISMARCK, N.D.: Kevin Andrews scored a career-high 23 points on 10 of 13 shooting to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 71-59 road victory over the University of Mary on Friday night. The victory was SMSU's fifth straight conference win and snapped a five-game road losing streak.
SMSU, the 10th ranked team in the region, improves to 13-8 overall, 8-4 NSIC. Mary drops to 6-15 overall, 3-9 NSIC.
SMSU held a slight 31-29 halftime lead behind Andrews' 13 points and forcing 11 Mary turnovers. The Mustangs held a 44-40 lead with 12:30 remaining in the game but in the next four minutes SMSU extended the lead with key field goals to put the game away. Leading 48-42, SMSU's Travis Krenske and Andrew Peschong connected on back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead to 54-42. The Mustangs pushed the lead to 64-48 with 4:36 left in the contest before settling for the 12-point victory.
Krenske was the only other SMSU player in double figures finishing with 17 points including four three-pointers. Ross DeMasi finished with nine points and added a team-high seven rebounds.
SMSU finished the game shooting 23 of 51 from the field (45.1) including 6 of 14 from three-point range (42.9). Mary finished the night shooting 20 of 42 (47.6) but was just 4 of 16 (25.0) from behind the arc. SMSU finished the night with a 30-24 rebound advantage.
Eric Erdmann led Mary with 25 points.
SMSU concludes its short road trip tomorrow night with a key game at No. 8 Northern State beginning at 8 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D.
