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MARSHALL, Minn. – Matt Zager scored a team-high 16 points on 8 of 9 shooting and also collected five steals and three assists to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 78-67 victory in exhibition men's basketball on Tuesday night.

SMSU will open the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. match-up at NCAA Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Nick Smith added 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting with five rebounds for the Mustangs, while Jordan Miller scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds.

St. Olaf finished the game drilling 12 3-pointers with Stu Neville leading the Oles with 17 points.

St. Olaf held an early lead for the game's first eight minutes, before SMSU rallied with a 10-4 run midway through the half to build a 23-17 lead with eight minutes and 26 seconds remaining in the half.

SMSU extended the lead, its largest of the half, to 33-23 with 4:33 on the clock following a Nick Smith layup.  SMSU maintained a 10-point lead at 39-29 with 2:44 remaining, before settling for a 41-37 halftime lead.

St. Olaf finished the first half connecting on 9 of 11 3-pointers, while SMSU ended the half shooting 76 percent.

SMSU put the game away early in the second with an 18-2 run to start the second half to build a 59-39 lead with 15:22 remaining in the game and never looked back.  SMSU's largest lead of the game was 73-50 with 8:41 on the clock.

The Mustangs finished the game shooting 62.3 percent (33 of 53) from the field and 6 of 16 from 3-point range.  SMSU also held a 34-20 rebound advantage.