> Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Carter Kirk scored a career-high 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting to help lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 78-59 victory over Minnesota Duluth in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Saturday night at the R/A Facility.

SMSU, which snapped an eight-game losing streak with the victory, improves to 10-12 overall, 6-10. UMD, which entered the game having won five of its previous seven games, drops to 11-11 overall, 8-8 NSIC.

SMSU held a 29-26 halftime lead, but slowly pulled away in the second half shooting 57 percent, including 7 of 10 from 3-point range.

SMSU committed a season-low four turnovers and finished the night shooting 49 percent (30 of 61) from the field, including 8 of 16 from 3-point range. SMSU outscored UMD 19-6 on points off of turnovers.

Kirk was one of five Mustangs to reach double figures in scoring on the night. MJ Delmore poured in 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting, including a perfect 4 of 4 from 3-point range. Cole Martin also added 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. Mitch Weg (11) and Travis Meinders (10) also both scored in double figures with Weg grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.

Taylor Lavery led UMD with 18 points with five 3-pointers. Brendon Pineda added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. SMSU held UMD's leading scorer Brett Ervin (19.4 ppg) to just nine points on 3 of 8 shooting.

SMSU led for a majority of the opening half, building a 21-14 lead with 7:36 remaining in the half following a 3-pointer by Joey Bartlett.

SMSU held two more seven-point leads in the half, including 25-18 with 5:37 left after a Meinders layup.

UMD rallied to trim the deficit to 27-26 with 2:00 left in the half, before Kirk closed the half with a layup to give SMSU a 29-26 halftime lead.

SMSU shot 42 percent in the first half, while UMD shot 32 percent and held a 22-15 rebound advantage.

UMD opened the second half with a 3-pointer to tie the game, but SMSU later put together a key run to pull away. Leading 35-34 with 18:47 on the clock, SMSU scored nine straight points, starting with a 3-pointer by Delmore and capped by a 3-pointer by Meinders to make the score 44-34 with 17:32 left in the game.

UMD later cut the lead to 46-40, but SMSU put the game away with a 13-3 run midway through the half to push the lead to 59-43 at the 9:34 mark and the lead never dipped below double digits the remainder of the game.

Southwest Minnesota State opens a four-game road trip next Friday, Feb. 6, taking on Bemidji State University.