Box Score
 
WAYNE, Neb. — The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team scored 21 free-throws on 30 attempts to push past Wayne State College 82-73 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday.
 
SMSU (8-4, 4-3 NSIC) finished shooting 50.9 percent—its seventh of the season shooting over 50 percent—on 28 of 55 attempts and scored 21 of 30 free-throw attempts. WSC (3-9, 1-6 NSIC) shot 42.4 percent on 25 of 59 attempts, while hitting 10 of 28 3-pointers.
 
Five Mustangs scored double-digit points as Joey Bartlett led the team with 14 points on 7 of 11 attempts. Taylor Schafer added to the effort with 11 points as he made 3  3-pointers on 4 attempts. Turner Moen, Shaun Condon and Carter Kirk all recorded 10 points in the win. MJ Delmore primed the offense dishing out a team-high five assists.
 
The SMSU defense held a 38-30 rebound advantage and controlled the paint scoring 32 points in the paint to WSC's 20. Mitch Weg led the defense with eight rebounds, while Bartlett pulled down seven.
 
Both teams battled to take the lead early, as there were four ties in the first 10 minutes. SMSU grabbed the lead with 7:17 left in the half following a Josh Weix layup. SMSU would go on a 15-1 run over nearly the next six minutes to hold a 37-24 lead with 2:05 left in the half.
 
WSC came back with a 9-3 run of its own to cut the SMSU lead to 40-31 at the break.
 
SMSU lead 40-31 at the break, as Kirk led the attack with nine points on 4 of 5 shooting. Moen contributed seven points, while Ryan Bruggeman and Bartlett added six. Bartlett controlled the paint pulling down five rebounds to lead all players.
 
SMSU finished the half shooting 59.3 percent (16 of 27) from the floor and 63.6 percent (7 of 11) from the charity stripe. WSC was held to a 35.5 field-goal percentage (11 of 31), while hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers to finish the half shooting 80 percent from downtown.
 
SMSU came out of the break with energy, as they started the half with an 12-1 run over the first four and half minutes of the second half. SMSU built its largest lead of the game at 67-42 with 10:52 left to play following a following a dunk by Bartlett.
 
WSC would not go down easy, as it fought back to cut the Mustang lead down the stretch and trailed by six with just 1:05 left to play following a 3-pointer. SMSU would hold off the Wildcats to earn an 82-73 victory as it made 10 of 12 free-throw attempts in the final two minutes.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will play Augustana University tomorrow at the Sioux Falls Arena with the tip at 5 p.m.