BOX SCORE

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Kevin Andrews scored a team-high 21 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including tying a career-high with four 3-pointers to lead Southwest Minnesota State to an 81-67 victory over Winona State in the semifinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament in St. Cloud, Minn.

SMSU, the tournament's No. 8 seed, now advances to the championship game tomorrow afternoon starting at 2 p.m. versus No. 2 seed St. Cloud State.  The winner receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA region tournament starting on March 13.  SMSU is 0-3 all-time in NSIC tournament championship games.

The victory for SMSU (17-11) was its fourth straight, tying a season-high, and also snaps a 15-game losing streak to WSU dating back to the 2002-03 season.

Scott Roehl recorded his team-high seventh double-double of the season for SMSU with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Jordan Miller and DeAnthony Zanders each scored 12 points, while Taylor Huseby added 11 points to round out SMSU's double figure scorers.

Ben Fischer scored a game-high 24 points for WSU (20-9), drilling 7 of 13 shots, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range.  The Warriors, ranked No. 6 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings, are expected to receive an at-large bid to the region tournament announced on Sunday night.

The Mustang defense was solid all game, limiting WSU to 38.9 percent shooting (21 of 54) and held a 40-28 rebound margin. 

SMSU was outstanding on the defensive end in the first half, limiting WSU to just 25.9 percent (7 of 27) shooting from the field and forcing seven turnovers in building a 40-27 halftime lead.

The two teams played even for the first six and a half minutes of the game before the Mustangs put together a 10-3 run to build a 19-14 lead with 11 minutes and 37 seconds remaining following a field goal by Kevin Andrews.

Following the midway point of the first half, SMSU took charge and pushed the lead to double digits.  Holding a 19-16 lead with 10 minutes left in the half, SMSU reeled off 10 of the next 13 points to push the lead to 29-19 with 4:50 left in the half.

WSU answered with a basket at the 4:46 mark, but again SMSU answered back with a 7-0 run, including five straight points by Taylor Huseby, to take its largest lead of the half at 36-21 with 2:23 remaining.

The Mustangs maintained a double-digit lead for much of the second half, including holding a 62-48 lead with nine minutes left, before WSU countered with its biggest run of the night, an 11-2 run over the next four and a half minutes, to cut the lead to 64-59 with 5:36 left.

Roehl then stepped up big time on SMSU's next possession, drilling a jumper with 5:20 remaining to end the Mustang drought and start a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to seal the victory.

 SMSU and St. Cloud State will be meeting for the third time this season with SCSU winning both times, 72-67 in Marshall and 64-51 in St. Cloud.