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MARSHALL, Minn. – Minnesota State's Assem Marei scored 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to lead the Mavericks to a 108-73 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Saturday night at the R/A Facility.
 
It was the final regular season game for both teams, who both begin play in the NSIC Sanford Tournament on Wednesday night. SMSU will be the No. 6 seed from the NSIC South Division and will open at the No. 3 seed from the North Division, St. Cloud State starting at 8 p.m. MSU, the No. 2 seed from the South, will host the No. 7 seed from the North Division, Minnesota Crookston starting at 8 p.m.
 
St. Cloud State defeated Southwest Minnesota State 76-55 in Marshall on Jan. 30 in the only meeting between the teams this season.
 
MSU (22-6, 17-5 NSIC) finished the night shooting 58 percent (42 of 72) from the field, including making 12 3-pointers, while also holding a 45-30 rebound advantage.
 
SMSU (12-16, 8-14 NSIC) shot just 39 percent (28 of 71) from the field, including 7 of 19 from 3-point range. Travis Meinders led the Mustangs with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Turner Moen closed the night scoring 15 points, while Cole Martin added 12 points.
 
The Mavericks stormed out to a 15-4 lead in the game's opening three and a half minutes to build a double digit lead that it would hold for most of the first half.
 
Back-to-back field goals from Martin cut the deficit to 29-20 with 9:49 left in the half, but MSU reeled off 11 straight points to push the lead to 40-20, before Joey Bartlett ended the run with a field goal at the 6:06 mark.
 
MSU would later push the lead to 47-23 with four minutes remaining, before SMSU cut into the deficit to trail 52-35 at halftime.
 
MSU shot 59 percent in the opening half and held a 22-15 rebound advantage. Marei led the Mavericks with 18 first half points with five rebounds.
 
SMSU shot 41 percent in the opening half with Martin leading the team with eight points.
 
MSU held a 56-38 lead with 18 minutes remaining in the contest, before putting the game away by scoring 10 straight points to build a 66-38 lead with 15:16 left on the clock.
 
Tonight was the final home game for SMSU seniors Cole Martin and Travis Meinders.