BOX SCORE
MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State earned its fourth straight victory with one of its best defensive efforts of the season earning a 73-43 victory over Wayne State on Saturday night in Marshall.
Wayne State shot just 28 percent (14 of 50) from the field, the lowest by an SMSU opponent this season. The Mustang defense also forced 18 turnovers, leading to 20 SMSU points.
SMSU improves to 5-1 overall, 2-0 NSIC, while WSC, which began the season 4-0, falls for the second straight game and is 4-2 overall, 0-2 NSIC.
Jordan Miller led all scorers with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting, while
Nick Smith,
Lavione West,
Scott Roehl and
Trent Carlson all scored eight points to lead a balanced SMSU attack. SMSU finished the night shooting 54.5 percent (30 of 55) from the field, including drilling six 3-pointers.
SMSU, which never trailed in the game, built a 37-19 halftime lead. Miller pushed the lead to 40-19 early in the second half, before WSC put together a 7-0 run to cut the Mustang lead to 40-26 with 16:30 left in the game.
SMSU answered the WSC run and put the game away with tremendous defense in the final 11 minutes. The Mustangs held a 51-34 lead with 11 minutes left in the game and then held the Wildcats scoreless for the next six minutes and 15 seconds to push the lead to 68-34 with under five minutes left in the game.
The Mustangs also played outstanding defense in the opening half limiting Wayne State to just 22.7 percent (5 of 22) shooting in the first 20 minutes, while forcing 11 turnovers.
SMSU was red-hot from the field in the opening half connecting on 15 of 26 shots (57.7) with three 3-pointers. Roehl and Carlson each led the Mustangs in the first half with eight points apiece.
Southwest Minnesota State will now begin a four-game road trip next weekend with a battle versus St. Cloud State (2-4, 1-1 NSIC) on Friday, Dec. 10, with tipoff at 8 p.m. SCSU advanced to the NCAA Final Four last season and defeated SMSU in the final of the NSIC tournament last season. SMSU will then face Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday, Dec. 11, starting at 6 p.m.
