BOX SCORE

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Jordan Miller scored a game-high 21 points to help Southwest Minnesota State to a hard-fought 72-67 season-opening road victory over Northwest Missouri State on Sunday afternoon in Maryville, Mo.

SMSU has now won eight straight season opening games and 13 of the past 15. The two teams will play once more this season on Nov. 27 in Marshall.

Miller finished the night 6-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. He was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line and grabbed five rebounds. Scott Roehl scored 16 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds despite playing just 23 minutes because of foul trouble. Taylor Huseby chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.

SMSU trailed 34-31 at halftime and 47-42 with 12 minutes and 49 seconds left in the game before the Mustangs rallied with an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the second half at 48-47 on a lay-up by Huseby with 9:41 on the clock. Following a missed shot by Northwest, Matt Zager pushed the lead to 50-47 with a lay-up at the 9:15 mark.

SMSU held a 50-49 lead with eight minutes left, before Jimmy Abraham scored on a lay-up to give the Mustangs a three-point lead with 7:08 remaining. William Giddings then connected on one of the biggest shots of the game, drilling his only 3-pointer of the game with 6:28 remaining to extend the lead to 55-49.

The Bearcats answered with a field goal on its next possession to cut the margin to 55-51, but again SMSU had an answer as Miller drilled a 3-pointer to give SMSU its largest lead of the game at 58-51 with 5:40 remaining.

NWMSU cut the lead to 62-60 with 2:30 left, but back-to-back field goals by Scott Roehl pushed the lead to 66-60 with 1:37 remaining and the Mustangs never looked back.

The Bearcats did pull to within three points in the final moments but a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds left missed and Miller sealed the win with two free throws.

SMSU started the game strong scoring the first four points and extended the lead to 14-9 with 15 minutes and nine seconds left in the opening half following back-to-back 3-pointers by Miler.

NWMSU rallied with a 7-0 run to its first lead of the game at 16-14 with just over 12 minutes left in the half, before Roehl stopped the run with a field goal with 11:59 on the clock.

The two teams traded the lead several times over the next five minutes before the Bearcats put together a 6-0 run to take its largest lead of the half at 29-23 with six minutes remaining. NWMSU maintained the lead for the remainder of the half and took a 34-31 lead into halftime.

The Mustangs finished the game shooting 52.1 percent from the field and shot an outstanding 90 percent from the free throw line, connecting on 18 of 20 attempts. SMSU turned the ball over 15 times, while NWMSU had just six turnovers.

DeShaun Cooper led the Bearcats with 17 points and six assists.

SMSU continues non-conference play on Thursday, Nov. 18, with a road contest versus NCAA Division I South Dakota State. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. in Brookings, S.D.