BOX SCORE | NSIC TOURNAMENT SITE

MARSHALL, Minn. – Vinard Birch scored a team-high 18 points to lead Southwest Minnesota State to an 82-65 victory over the University of Mary in the first round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/Sanford Health Tournament at the R/A Facility on Wednesday night.

SMSU (18-11), the No. 3 seed in the NSIC South, will now face No. 7S Wayne State in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Sunday night at 8:30 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. Wayne State upset No. 2N Bemidji State 88-76 on Wednesday.

U-Mary ends its season with a record of 7-21.

Birch was one of four Mustangs to score in double figures. Joey Bartlett came off the bench to score 17 points – his highest total since scoring 20 versus MSU Moorhead on Jan. 4. Nick Smith added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while William Giddings chipped in with 11 points.

Chris Mason led the Marauders with 22 points with three 3-pointers, while Marc Musungayi poured in 20 points on of 10 of 12 shooting with six rebounds.

SMSU shot 54 percent (32 of 59) from the field, including 7 of 15 from 3-point range and committed just eight turnovers. U-Mary closed the game shooting 43 percent (25 of 58) from the field, but made just 4 of 16 3-pointers and committed 12 turnovers.

The Mustangs finished with an 18-4 scoring advantage on points off of turnovers.

SMSU held a 14-13 lead with 10 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the first half before a free throw by Mitch Weg and back-to-back field goals by Smith pushed the Mustang lead to 19-13.

A layup by U-Mary's Musungayi made the score 19-15 before SMSU put together a 9-0 run – closed by a 3-pointer by Shaun Condon - to build its largest lead of the half at 30-15 with 5:48 left.

SMSU maintained a double digit lead for the remainder of the half and took a 38-25 lead into the break.

The Mustangs shot 53 percent in the half, held a 17-12 rebound advantage and forced the Marauders into nine turnovers, which led to 12 SMSU points.

U-Mary came out with a quick start to the second half trimming the deficit to seven points on two occasions, including 47-40 at the 16:27 mark. SMSU stopped the U-Mary comeback with a Birch layup and a 3-pointer by Bartlett to extend the margin to 52-40.

The Marauders wouldn't go away and pulled to within 61-53 with 8:33 left, but Bartlett and Zager scored on jumpers and Condon connected on a 3-pointer to push the lead to 68-53 at the 6:55 mark and the lead never dipped below 11 points the remainder of the game.

SMSU has defeated Wayne State twice this season, winning 80-61 in Marshall on Dec. 7 and 58-56 in Wayne, Neb., on Jan. 24.