MARSHALL, Minn. – William Giddings scored a career-high 17 points with five rebounds to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 96-74 victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday night.  Nick Smith also added a career-high with 15 points for SMSU, which never trailed in the game and earned its second straight victory.

SMSU (4-4, 3-1 NSIC) had six players score in double figures and finished the game shooting 51.5 percent
(35 of 68) from the field and held a 42-27 rebound advantage.  SMSU also forced Concordia (4-4, 1-3 NSIC) into 17 turnovers.

Jordan Miller poured in 16 points for the Mustangs, while Vinard Birch added 12 points and four assists and Lavione West chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds.  

SMSU scored the game's first seven points and built the lead to as many 17 at 31-14 with 7:58 remaining in the half.

CU answered with an 8-0 run in the next two and a half minutes to cut the lead to 31-22 before Jordan Miller stopped the run with a field goal following a missed shot.  SMSU pushed the lead to 37-23 before settling for a 43-35 halftime lead.

The Golden Bears started the second half strong and trimmed the lead to 43-39, but SMSU quickly answered with a run of its own to extend the lead to 59-46 with 14:55 left in the game.

CU would make one more run and cut the lead to 66-57 with 11:52 on the clock, but that was the last time the SMSU lead would drop below 10 points as the Mustangs put together a 16-2 run in the next five minutes to build an 82-59 lead with 7:07 remaining in the game. 

Kenny Olafeso scored 16 points to pace the Golden Bears, with Zach Towle adding a season-high 14 points.

Southwest Minnesota State will continue its homestand next Friday, Dec. 16, taking on nationally-ranked Winona State (8-1, 3-0 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 8 p.m.