BOX SCORE

MANKATO, Minn. – No. 22 Minnesota State outscored Southwest Minnesota State 14-2 in the final five minutes and 15 seconds to erase a three-point deficit and earn a hard-fought 77-68 victory on Friday night in NSIC men's basketball at the Taylor Center.

The game featured eight ties and 20 lead changes as MSU maintained in a first place tie in the conference, improving to 20-4 overall, 14-3 NSIC. SMSU drops to 14-9 overall, 11-6 NSIC.

Matt Zager led SMSU with a season-high 23 points connecting on a career-high 10 field goals, including three 3-pointers. Zager's final 3-pointer of the game gave SMSU a 66-63 lead with 5:30 left in the game before MSU answered with the game-turning run to close the game and earn its third straight victory over SMSU.

William Giddings was the only other SMSU player to score double figures with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting with three 3-pointers. SMSU ended the night shooting 44 percent (27 of 62) from the field and committed 10 turnovers. SMSU was just 6 of 8 from the free throws line.

MSU was paced by Zach Monaghan who scored a team-high 23 points and dished out 11 assists. He entered the game leading Division II in assists with 184. Assem Marei added 21 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots for the Mavericks.

SMSU led for much of the game's first seven and a half minutes – including holding a five-point lead three different times – before MSU's Monaghan connected on a 3-point to give the Mavericks a 16-15 advantage with 12 minutes and 24 seconds remaining.

MSU held a 22-18 lead with 10:28 left before SMSU rallied with a 9-1 run to take a 27-23 lead at the 7:27 mark following a 3-pointer by Joey Bartlett. SMSU would maintain the lead for the next four minutes until Monaghan drilled another 3-point to give MSU a 32-31 lead. Monaghan – who leads Division II in assists – closed the half with his third 3-pointer to give the Mavericks a 40-37 halftime lead.

SMSU shot 47 percent (16 of 34) in the first half and held a 20-15 rebound advantage. SMSU held a 13-0 advantage on second chance points in the opening 20 minutes.

SMSU started the second half strong putting together an 8-0 run capped by a three-point play by Giddings to give the Mustangs their largest lead of the game at 51-45 with 14:17 left in the game. MSU closed to within 53-52 before Shaun Condon drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 56-52 at the 11:11 mark.

MSU came right back and regained the lead on an Alex Hanks 3-pointer with 10:11 left to make the score 57-56. MSU later built a 61-58 lead with 7:30 left on a pair of Monaghan free throws, but Giddings answered on SMSU's next possession with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 61.

Marei regained the lead for MSU with a dunk, before Condon hit a pair of free throws with 6:17 left to tie the game for the eighth time at 63-63. Following a turnover by MSU, Zager answered with his final 3-pointer to give SMSU its three-point lead at 66-63, before MSU countered with its final run to earn the victory.

Southwest Minnesota State concludes the weekend tomorrow night at Concordia-St. Paul starting at 6 p.m. at the Gangelhoff Center.