Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State, ranked No. 21 in this week's D2SIDA Top 25, held off a second half comeback by Wayne State to record its 20^th victory of the season, earning an 85-82 victory in NSIC men's basketball on Friday night at the R/A Facility.
 
The 20-win season is just the fifth in team history and the first since the 2008-09 team won 28 games.
 
SMSU (20-4, 15-4 NSIC) used a balanced scoring to earn the victory, with four players in double figure scoring, while shooting 57 percent (31 of 54) from the field. The Mustangs held a 31-28 rebound, while both teams committed 12 turnovers.
 
KJ Davis tied a career-high with 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting, while Ryan Bruggeman scored 17 points and dished out five assists. Bruggeman scored 15 points in the second half. Joey Bartlett added 15 points, while Carter Kirk chipped in with 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Kendall Jacks led the Wildcats with 25 points and eight rebounds. WSC drops to 8-17 overall, 6-13 NSIC.
 
SMSU has now earned 18^th straight victories over WSC in Marshall.  
 
The teams played a tight opening half with SMSU holding a 29-26 lead with five minutes left in the half, before the Mustangs used an 8-2 run—capped by a Taylor Schafer 3-pointer—to take its largest lead of the half at 37-28 at the 1:43 mark.
 
SMSU, which led 37-30 at halftime, shot 55 percent in the opening half, behind 11 points from Bartlett.
 
The Mustangs took a pair of 12-point leads in the second half, including 45-33 with 16:55 left in the game. SMSU maintained a 10-point advantage, 67-57 at the 8:37 mark, but WSC would not go away and pulled to within 80-78 with 51 seconds remaining.
 
Following a turnover by SMSU, WSC had a chance to take the lead, but Vance Janssen missed a 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining. Bruggeman then hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to make the score 82-78. Bruggeman sealed the game with three more free throws in the final five seconds of the game.
 
Southwest Minnesota State will conclude its home regular season tomorrow night taking on Augustana University with tip-off set for 7 p.m.