BOX SCORE | NSIC/SANFORD HEALTH TOURNAMENT BRACKET

MARSHALL, Minn. – No. 17 Minnesota State captured the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championship outright with a hard-fought 78-66 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday night at the R/A Facility.

MSU (25-4, 19-3 NSIC) entered the night tied atop the standings with Winona State, but the Warriors lost at home to Augustana. MSU is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Central Region rankings, while SMSU (17-11, 14-8 NSIC) is ranked No. 9 in the region rankings.

SMSU will now open play in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 26, as the No. 3 seed in the NSIC South and will host the University of Mary, the No. 6 seed from the NSIC North, starting at 7 p.m. U-Mary defeated SMSU in Bismarck, N.D., on Feb. 14, 74-65.

MSU is the No. 1 seed in the South and will host No. 8 North seed Minnesota Crookston.

Tanner Adler led the Mavericks with a game-high 22 points on 9 of 15 shooting with four 3-pointers, while Assem Marei added 16 points and six rebounds. Zach Monaghan also had strong game for MSU with 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

SMSU had four players score in double figures with William Giddings leading the way with 17 points with Vinard Birch adding 14 points, five assists and two steals. Shaun Condon (13) and Matt Zager (10) also both finished in double figuring scoring.

SMSU shot 44 percent (25 of 57) from the field, but was just 7 of 24 from 3-point range and 9 of 16 from the free throw line. MSU ended the game shooting 50 percent (28 of 56) and held a 38-29 rebound advantage.

MSU jumped out to an early 13-6 lead in the first five minutes and never trailed in the opening half.

SMSU cut the deficit to three points on five different occasions, including 22-19 at the 6:40 mark following a layup by Giddings. MSU answered with seven straight points in the next two minutes to build a 29-19 advantage.

SMSU rallied back and trimmed the MSU lead to 29-23 with three minutes left following a Birch jumper, but MSU came back with a 10-3 run to take its largest lead of the half at 39-26, before settling for a 39-29 halftime lead.

SMSU shot 42 percent (11 of 26) in the opening half, while MSU shot 50 percent (16 of 32) and held a 19-12 rebound advantage. Adler led the Mavericks with 13 points, while Giddings paced the Mustangs in the opening half with 11 points.

The Mavericks maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, building a 14-point lead at 63-49 with 10 minutes left in the game.

MSU pushed the lead to 64-52 with 7:26 left before SMSU made a late push and trimmed the deficit to 69-63 with 3:19 remaining after a layup by Birch. Following a timeout, MSU crushed SMSU's comeback hopes as Adler connected on a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 72-63 and seal the victory.

MSU has now defeated SMSU four straight times in the last two seasons.