Box Score

DENVER - The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team cashed in on 30 of 58 shots to finish shooting 51.7 percent to defeat MSU Denver 75-59 on Friday night in the Auraria Event Center.

Mitch Weg led the Mustangs with 16 points while also grabbing double-digit rebounds to record his second double-double of the season. Josh Weix scored a career high 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting, while Carter Kirk added 10 points on 3 of 5 attempts.

Weg controlled the paint with 10 rebounds-six of them offensive-while Turner Moen pulled down six and Kirk added five.

SMSU (3-1) led the whole game as they jumped out to an early lead after a 3-pointer by MJ Delmore gave SMSU a 15-6 lead with 12:36 left in the first half. The Roadrunners cut the lead down to three, but SMSU came back with a 9-0 run to push its lead to 12 with 8:51 remaining in the half.

MSU Denver (2-3) again came back to cut the deficit down to six with six minutes left in the half, but the Mustangs pushed its lead to 12 again at 4:38 and went on to lead at the break, 40-31.

After the first 20 minutes, Delmore and Kirk led the Mustangs with eight points apiece. Moen and Weg controlled the boards as they pulled down four and three rebounds, respectfully.

SMSU hit 15 of 29 shots from the floor for a 51.7 percent, while shooting 50 percent from behind the arc in the half. MSU Denver shot 50 percent from the field on 12 of 24 shooting and 3 of 8 from downtown.

After the break, the Mustangs opened up with a 19-4 run over 8 minutes to mark their largest lead of the game at 59-35 with 12:16 left in the game. The Roadrunners would trail by 12 with 5:07 left, but that is all the closer they would get as the Mustangs' defense held them off to secure the 75-59 win.

SMSU capitalized on 13 MSU Denver turnovers as it scored 18 points on giveaways and dominated in second chance points as it held a 12-1 advantage.

Southwest Minnesota State will face Regis (Colo.) at 6 p.m., (CT) tomorrow.