Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State opened Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with a hard-fought 74-72 victory over the University of Sioux Falls on Tuesday night at the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU remains undefeated with the victory improving to 6-0 overall, 1-0 NSIC. USF drops to 3-5 overall, 0-1 NSIC.
 
Ryan Bruggeman led SMSU with a team-high 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting with three 3-pointers. Carter Kirk recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Joey Bartlett also finished in double figure scoring for SMSU with 10 points.
 
SMSU earned the win despite shooting a season-low 38 percent (23 of 60) from the field, including 7 of 21 from 3-point range. The Mustangs made 21 of 26 from the free throw line and held a 44-30 rebound advantage.
 
Drew Guebert led the Cougars with 26 points on 8 of 15 shooting with four 3-pointers. USF finished the game shooting 44 percent (25 of 57) from the field, including 11 of 25 from 3-point land.
 
With the game tied at 67-67 with 3:50 remaining, Taylor Schafer gave SMSU a one-point lead making one of two free throws. Following a missed 3-pointer by USF, Mitch Weg pushed the led to 70-67 with a layup at the 3:15 mark.
 
The SMSU defense then stopped USF on back-to-back possessions, including a steal by KJ Davis with 2:27 remaining to maintain the lead. Following the steal, Bruggeman pushed the lead to 72-67 with a layup with 1:59 on the clock.
 
Following two free throws by Guebert, SMSU extended the lead back to five on a layup by Weg to make the score 74-69. USF's Mack Johnson connected on a 3-pointer with 50 seconds to trim the deficit to 74-72. USF forced a missed 3-pointer by Bartlett with 23 seconds remaining and had a chance to tie or take the lead. Johnson missed a potential tying field goal, but the retained possession following the rebound with 1.7 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Johnson missed a desperation 3-pointer as time expired.
 
USF jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before SMSU rallied to take its first lead of the night at 11-10 on a free throw by Bruggeman with 11:18 left in the half.
 
SMSU used a 7-0 run—all via free throws—midway through half to build its largest lead of the half at 19-12 at the 6:34 mark.
 
USF countered to tie the game at 21-21, before Bruggeman put the Mustangs back in front with the team's lone 3-pointer in the half and was followed by a pair of free throws by Turner Moen to push the lead to 25-21. USF rallied to close the half on an 11-4 run to take a 32-30 lead in to the break.
 
SMSU shot just 21 percent in the first half, but held a 28-18 rebound margin. SMSU also made 17 of 19 free throws in the first half.
 
USF pushed the lead to 44-36 with 16 minutes left in the game, but SMSU answered with a field goal by Weg and back-to-back 3-pointers by Drew Osmundson and Bartlett to tie the game at 44-44.
 
SMSU would later build the lead to 65-59 with 6:27 remaining following a 3-pointer by Michael Lee. USF the countered with an 8-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Guebert to tie the game at 67-67.
 
Southwest Minnesota State continues NSIC play on Friday night play at Upper Iowa with tip-off slated for 8 p.m. in Fayette.