Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – KJ Davis hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining to give Southwest Minnesota State the lead and eventually earn a come-from-behind 68-65 victory over Minnesota Duluth in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball at Romano Gym.
 
SMSU junior Ryan Bruggeman scored a game-high 21 points and in the process became the 22^nd player in team history to reach 1,000 career points.
 
UMD held a 65-62 lead with less than a minute remaining before SMSU's Taylor Schafer hit a jumper to trim the lead to 65-64 with 40 seconds remaining. On the ensuing UMD possession, Bruggeman stole the ball from UMD's Logan Rohrscheib and moments later Davis was fouled with 14 seconds on the clock. Following the two free throws by Davis, Turner Moen came with another steal on the next Bulldog possession and called a timeout with three seconds remaining. Bruggeman would later hit two free throws to help seal the victory.
 
Moen scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double to help pace the Mustangs, while Davis added 10 points.
 
SMSU (7-3, 3-1 NSIC), which has won three straight and six of its last seven, was able to earn the victory despite shooting a season-low 39 percent (23 of 59), including just 2 of 7 from 3-point range.  
 
UMD (2-5, 0-3 NSIC) shot 42 percent (23 of 55) from the field, but made just 3 of 16 from behind the three-point arc and 16 of 23 from the free throw line. Rohrscheid paced the Bulldogs with 19 points on 6 of 13 shooting.
 
SMSU struggled shooting early in the game connecting on just four of its first 16 shots in falling behind 15-7 in the game's first nine minutes.
 
The Mustangs used solid defense to slowly cut into the lead before finally taking a 16-15 advantage with eight minutes remaining as Moen scored on a layup. Davis would later score to cap an 11-0 run to push the lead to 18-15.
 
UMD would later take a 21-20 lead before Nick Dufault would put SMSU back in front with a jumper and was followed by a basket from Carter Kirk to make the score 24-21 in favor of SMSU. The Mustangs would maintain the lead the remainder of the half and took a 30-24 lead into halftime as Bruggeman scored on a layup just before the buzzer.
 
SMSU shot just 35 percent in the opening half including 1 of 5 from 3-point range. UMD struggled from the field as while in the opening half shooting just 36 percent with one 3-pointer on eight attempts.
 
UMD came out firing to start the second half, using a 16-5 run in the first five minutes to build a 40-35 lead at the 14:25 mark.
 
SMSU would regain the lead on a Kolin Bartlett field goal to make the score 42-41 at the 12:30 mark before UMD answered back with five straight points to build a 46-42 advantage.
 
SMSU countered with a 7-0 run behind baskets from Bartlett and Bruggeman and a 3-pointer by Schafer to go back in front at 49-46 with nine minutes left in the game.
 
The lead changed hands several times in the final nine minutes before UMD took its three-point lead with 52 seconds left on a jumper by Rohrscheib.
 
Southwest Minnesota State concludes the weekend road trip on Saturday facing St. Cloud State (6-2, 3-0 NSIC) with tip-off set for 6 p.m. at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall.