Box Score
MOORHEAD, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State, ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings, moved into sole possession of first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a 78-67 road victory over MSU Moorhead on Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.
The win was the Mustangs' ninth straight victory and 12th in their last 13 games. It was also SMSU's sixth straight road win, its longest road winning streak since the 2000-01 squad won a school record seven in a row.
SMSU began the night tied atop the standings with Winona State, but the Warriors were defeated at Northern State tonight. SMSU is now 19-5 overall, 11-3 NSIC. MSU Moorhead falls to 7-12 overall, 4-10 NSIC.
SMSU was led by DeAnthony Zanders who poured in a career-high 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting and was one of six Mustangs to score in double figures. Kevin Andrews and Ross DeMasi also added 11 points, while Nick Dale, Taylor Huseby and Andy Beilke each chipped in with 10 points.
DeMasi also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds to help the Mustangs outrebound the Dragons 38-24, including pulling down 20 offensive rebounds. Huseby added six rebounds, while Dale and Ryan Krome each collected five rebounds.
SMSU started the game slow falling behind 14-7 five minutes into the game but rallied with a 9-0 run over the next four and a half minutes to retake the lead. DeAnthony Zanders scored back-to-back field goals to tie the game at 14-14 with 9:54 left in the half before Nick Dale gave SMSU the lead back with a lay-up with 9:26 on the clock.
Following an MSUM field goal to tie the game at 16-all, SMSU responded with another run, this time scoring seven straight points, to build a 23-16 lead with 4:53 remaining following a pair of Ross DeMasi free throws.
The Dragons rallied back to trim the lead to 25-23 with 3:30 left in the half, before SMSU closed out the first 20 minutes with a 6-2 scoring spurt to build a 31-26 halftime lead.
SMSU shot 37 percent in the first half and turned the ball over 10 times, but did hold a 21-13 rebound advantage. Andy Beilke led the Mustang offense in the first half with eight points.
The Mustangs continued to hold the lead in the early stages of the second half and eventually pushed the lead to 53-42 with 12 minutes left on a Jon DeRock jumper. MSUM then put together its biggest rally of the night scoring 11 of the next 13 points points to cut the SMSU lead to 55-53 with just eight minutes left in the game.
The Mustang defense stiffened though and held the Dragons to just two points in over three minutes and capped off a 9-2 run with Zanders' lone three-pointer of the night to extend the lead to 64-55 with five minutes remaining and never looked back as the lead never dipped below six points.
Justyn Burgess led MSU Moorhead with a game-high 21 points.
SMSU will conclude its four-game NSIC road trip tomorrow night at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. at UMC's Lysaker Gym.
