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MANKATO, Minn. – In a battle of nationally ranked unbeaten teams No. 22 Minnesota State, Mankato used a late second half run to defeat No. 11 Southwest Minnesota State 82-64 on Saturday afternoon in Mankato.

MSU, which never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the game's first seven minutes and held onto the lead despite several attempts by SMSU to close the gap. In a game of runs, MSU had an answer for every SMSU run to improve to 7-0 on the season, 1-0 NSIC, while SMSU drops to 4-1 overall, 0-1 NSIC.

The Mavericks forced 21 SMSU turnovers, just the third time the Mustangs have had 20 or more turnovers in the last three-plus seasons. The last time SMSU had 20 turnovers in a game came against Lynn (Fla.) on Dec. 29, 2007.

MSU's Jesse Clark scored a game-high 19 points, including 13 in the second half, as he connected on 7 of 10 shots. Jefferson Mason added 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting.

SMSU had just one player score in double figures with junior Scott Roehl scoring 11 points off the bench.

The game started slowly for both teams as SMSU scored its first five points of the game from the free throw line before junior Scott Roehl scored the Mustangs first field goal to cut the MSU lead to 8-7 with 15 minutes and 32 seconds remaining.

MSU then went on a 13-4 run to build a 21-11 lead behind 69 percent shooting in the game's first eight minutes. The Mavericks held a 28-16 lead with 8:45 left connecting on 12 of its first 19 field goal attempts, including three three-pointers.

The Mavericks built the lead to 32-18 with seven minutes remaining until Mustang senior DeAnthony Zanders drilled a three-pointer and senior Jon DeRock buried a jumper to trim the MSU lead to 32-23 with six minutes left in the half.

MSU once again hand an answer and scored the next seven points to extend the lead to 39-23 with just under four minutes remaining. Zanders stepped up once again and stopped the MSU run with another three-pointer to end SMSU's two and a half minute scoreless run and cut the deficit to 39-26.

MSU maintained the lead into halftime taking a 42-30 lead into the break. The Mavericks finished the first 20 minutes shooting 55.2 percent (16 of 29) from the field and held a 19-14 rebound margin. SMSU finished the half shooting 39.3 percent (11 of 28) from the field and committed nine turnovers, which led to 13 MSU points.

Dale led SMSU with eight first half points, while Zanders added six points. Travis Nelson led the Mavericks with 10 points and five rebounds in the opening half.

SMSU scored the first six points of the second half on a field goal and free throw by junior Scott Roehl and a three-pointer by redshirt freshman Jordan Miller to cut the MSU lead to 42-36 with 18:12 left in the game. The Mustangs then pulled to within 43-38 with 17 minutes left on a lay-up by redshirt freshman Lavione West.

MSU answered the SMSU run with one of their own, this time a 10-2 run over the next 2:45, including eight straight points by Jefferson Mason, to push the lead back to double digits at 53-40 with 14:19 left. The Mustangs came back with a 5-0 run on a field goal by West and a three-pointer by senior Andrew Peschong to cut the MSU lead to 53-45 with 11:38 on the clock. But as was the story of the game, MSU came right back with a 13-1 run in the next five minutes to build a 66-46 lead with 6:27 left in the game and never looked back.

Minnesota State finished the game shooting 53.4 percent (31 of 58) from the field and committed just 11 turnovers. SMSU shot 41.8 percent (23 of 55) from the field and was just 13 of 20 from the free throw.

Peschong added nine points and five rebounds, while Dale added nine points and nine rebounds. SMSU's leading scorer entering the game, Miller, was held to just seven points on 3 of 8 shooting.

Southwest Minnesota State will next step out of conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 8, with a road game at NCAA Division I South Dakota State. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.



MANKATO, Minn. - No. 11 Southwest Minnesota State fell to No. 22 Minnesota State, Mankato 82-64 Saturday afternoon in Mankato, Minn.

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