ST. PAUL, Minn. – Trent Carlson tied a career-high with 18 points, connecting on 6 of 8 3-pointers to lead Southwest Minnesota State to an 88-77 victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball.

Carlson, who set a career-high with six 3-pointers, was one of six Mustang players to score in double figures.  SMSU (13-9, 12-6 NSIC) finished the game shooting 50.9 percent (27 of 53) from the field and made 8 of 15 3-point attempts.  SMSU has now won three in a row and four of its last five.

Peter Olafeso led Concordia (9-13, 6-12 NSIC) with 17 points.

Nick Smith, William Giddings and Tramel Barnes all finished with 12 points, while Jordan Miller and Casey Sussenguth each added 10 points.  SMSU also had six players score in double figures in its first win over Concordia in December.

The game was tied at 17 with nine minutes and 56 seconds left in the opening half, before SMSU used a 7-2 spurt to build a 24-19 lead following a pair of Sussenguth free throws.

CU would tie the game later in the half, but SMSU answered again with an 8-0 run, capped by a dunk by Giddings to push the lead to 32-24 with 4:57 remaining.

SMSU held a 39-32 halftime lead, shooting 47 percent from the field and drilling four 3-pointers.  Smith scored nine points in the first half, while Sussenguth added eight points.

The Mustangs started the second half strong and pushed the margin to 62-43 with 13:32 left in the game, following four straight free throws by Miller and Barnes following a foul and a technical foul on the CU bench.

SMSU would build a 69-49 lead at the 8:33 mark following a Giddings layup and never looked back in earning its third straight victory over CU and its first in St. Paul since Jan. 17, 2009.

Barnes finished the night a perfect 12 of 12 from the free throw, while as a team SMSU finished making 26 of 32 free throws.  SMSU ended the night with 13 turnovers, but committed just four in the second half.  

Southwest Minnesota State continues road action tomorrow facing second place St. Cloud State (18-4, 14-4 NSIC) with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.  SCSU defeated Minnesota State on Friday night with a last-second field goal.