>Box Score

BEMIDJI, Minn. — Southwest Minnesota State rallied back from an 18-point second half deficit to stun Bemidji State 75-71 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Friday night.

SMSU trailed 71-62 with less than four minutes remaining, but closed the game on a 13-0 run, forcing BSU into eight turnovers in the decisive four minutes. Mitch Weg's field goal with 57 seconds left in the game—following a missed free throw by Joey Bartlett—gave SMSU the lead at 73-71. It was SMSU's first lead of the game since the 10-minute mark of the opening half.


Carter Kirk led SMSU with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Cole Martin added 15 points with a team-high three 3-pointers. Weg closed the game with 14 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Nate Huot had a strong game for the Mustangs scoring a career-high eight points, including connecting on a pair of 3-pointers.


SMSU, which has now won two straight games for the first time since Dec. 12-13, improves to 11-12 overall, 7-10 NSIC. BSU drops to 8-13 overall, 4-13 NSIC.


SMSU finished the game shooting 43 percent (26 of 61) from the field, but shot 52 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Mustangs forced the Beavers into 20 turnovers, which led to 25 points for SMSU.

A pair of free throws by Kirk with 10:25 left in the opening half gave SMSU a 17-16 lead, but BSU answered with a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to build a 29-17 lead. Kirk ended the BSU rally with a dunk at the 4:45 mark and was followed by a 3-pointer by Martin to cut the deficit to 29-22, but again BSU had an answer and finished the half on an 11-4 run to build a 40-26 halftime lead.

Bemidji State took its largest lead of the game at 49-31 with just under 17 minutes remaining and would maintain a double-digit lead until Huot drilled a 3-pointer with 8:45 remaining to trim the deficit to 60-53.

BSU countered with a quick 8-0 run to appear to seal the victory—holding a 68-53 lead 7:45 left—but SMSU wouldn't go away and started its comeback.

Back-to-back field goals by Kirk and a 3-pointer by Martin closed a 7-0 Mustang run to make the score 68-60 with five minutes remaining. BSU would make two free throws to stop the run, but Travis Meinders answered with a field goal for the Mustangs to make the score 70-62.

A free throw by BSU's leading scorer, Brock Lutes, pushed the lead to 71-62 with less than four minutes left in the game, before the SMSU defense stepped up to earn the dramatic victory.

A free throw by Martin and a lay-up by Meinders cut the lead to 71-65. Following a steal by Martin, Weg scored on a layup to make the score 71-67 with three minutes left.

After another BSU turnover, Bartlett scored in the lane to make it 71-69, before Weg answered with the game tying field goal at the 2:42 mark following another BSU turnover.

The Beavers would miss a 3-pointer on its next possession with Turner Moen securing the rebound for the Mustangs. On the ensuing SMSU possession, Bartlett was fouled with one minute left in the game to give SMSU a chance at the lead. Bartlett would miss both free throws, but Weg—SMSU's leading rebounder—came away with the game's biggest rebound and he followed with a layup to give SMSU the lead at 73-71. Martin and Weg would later both make 1 of 2 free throws to secure the comeback victory and snap a five-game losing streak to BSU.

Southwest Minnesota State returns to action on Saturday night at Minnesota Crookston starting at 6 p.m.