BOX SCORE
MANKATO, Minn. - Southwest Minnesota State's Jordan Miller hit the go-ahead basket with 37 seconds left in the game to lift SMSU to a stunning 80-78 victory over No. 8-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato on Wednesday night in Mankato in the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament.
SMSU, the No. 8 seed in the tournament, earned its third straight victory and improves to 16-11 overall. MSU, the No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranked team in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings, falls to 24-4 overall.
DeAnthony Zanders scored a career-high 17 points for the Mustangs, connecting on 7 of 10 field goals, including three 3-pointers. Scott Roehl added 22 points and eight rebounds, while Taylor Huseby chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.
SMSU finished the game shooting a season-high 61 percent (36 of 59) from the field and held a 34-21 rebound advantage.
It was the second straight year the tournament's No. 1 seed was upset in the quarterfinals. Last season No. 8 Northern State defeated No. 1 SMSU in Marshall.
The Mustangs will now face No. 4-seeded Winona State on Saturday with tip-off set for 4 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud, Minn. WSU defeated SMSU 69-67 in Winona, Minn., on Jan. 8 in the only meeting of the season between the two teams.
SMSU, which trailed 76-70 with three minutes remaining in the game, closed the game on a 10-2 run to stun the Mavericks. Roehl and Zanders hit back-to-back baskets to trim the lead to 76-74 with 2:25 left, before MSU answered with two free throws with 1:57 left to push the lead back to four points at 78-74.
Zanders then hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:26 on the clock to cut the MSU deficit to 78-77. The Mustang defense then forced a missed MSU shot and Roehl came away with the rebound setting up the go-ahead possession.
Miller hit a 15-footer from the free throw, his sixth field goal of the night, to give SMSU its first lead of the second half with 37 seconds left.
MSU missed a shot on its next possession, but Miller had the ball stolen away with 15 seconds left, giving MSU another chance. The SMSU defense came through again as Andrew Peschong forced a turnover with under 10 seconds left and was fouled with 6.7 seconds on the clock with a chance to extend the lead to three points. Peschong hit just 1 of 2 free throws to make it an 80-78 lead and giving MSU one last chance to tie or win the game, but MSU's Travis Nelson had the ball stolen away by Roehl as time expired to give SMSU the victory.
It was a tight first 20 minutes of the game with MSU maintaining the lead for much of the first half until Taylor Huseby put SMSU in the lead for the first time with 6:16 left in the half connecting on a field goal to give SMSU a 25-24 lead. The two teams would exchange leads for the next few minutes until DeAnthony Zanders drilled a 3-pointer to give SMSU its last lead of the half with 3:22 remaining. MSU answered and closed out the half on a 10-4 run to take a 42-37 halftime lead.
SMSU shot outstanding in the opening half finishing 17 of 30 from the field (56.7), including 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
MSU started the second half strong, taking a pair of eight-point leads, including 49-41 with 17:10 left in the game, before SMSU chipped away and eventually tied the game at 58-58 with 10:09 left in the game.
Cameron Hodges led MSU with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including drilling a career-high five 3-pointers. Hodges entered the game with five 3-pointers all season. Travis Nelson added 18 points and a team-high four rebounds.
