Box Score

BISMARCK, N.D. – Southwest Minnesota State capped off a perfect trip to the state of North Dakota on Saturday night earning a 76-62 victory in NSIC men's basketball at the McDowell Activity Center.
 
SMSU, which defeated Minot State last night, moves into first place in the NSIC South Division standings with a 14-4 mark in conference play—one game in front of Upper Iowa. SMSU improves to 19-4 overall with the victory. SMSU remains tied with Northern State for second place in the NSIC overall standings, one game behind MSU Moorhead.
 
SMSU also picked up its 10^th true road victory of the season in 12 games, tying the 2000-01 team for the most road victories in one season. The 2008-09 team holds the team record with 11 victories.
 
Ryan Bruggeman led four Mustangs in double figure scoring with 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting with three assists and two steals. Carter Kirk also had a big game with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field with six rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
SMSU closed the game shooting 48 percent (30 of 63) from the field, despite making just 3 of 16 from 3-point range.
 
The Mustang played solid defense throughout the game, limiting the Marauders to just 41 percent (25 of 61) shooting, including 4 of 18 from 3-point land. SMSU limited U-Mary's leading scorer, Bryan Jefferson, to just six points on 3 of 9 from the field.
 
U-Mary, which defeated Sioux Falls on Friday night, drops to 9-15 overall, 7-11 NSIC.
 
Taylor Schafer (12), Mitch Weg (11) and Joey Bartlett (10) each reached double figures in scoring, while Bartlett also grabbed eight rebounds. Turner Moen also snared eight rebounds for the Mustangs, which finished with a 39-35 rebound advantage in the game.
 
SMSU used a key run during the midway mark of the first half to rally from an early deficit. Trailing 12-11 with 11 minutes remaining, Kirk scored a field goal to start a 12-2 run to give SMSU a 23-14 advantage at the 8:24 mark.
 
SMSU would later hold a five-point lead at 27-22 late in the half, but 10 straight points—highlighted by 3-pointers from Bruggeman and Schafer—pushed the lead to its largest of the half at 37-22.
 
U-Mary closed the half with a short run to trim the deficit to 38-28 at halftime.
 
SMSU would maintain a 48-35 lead with 13 minutes left in the second half, but U-Mary would go away and eventually cut the deficit to four points on numerous occasions, including 61-57 with 6:12 remaining.
 
SMSU then put the game away as Schafer scored on a layup that sparked a 10-0 run in less than three minutes to extend the lead to 71-57 with 3:18 remaining.
 
Tonight's win marked the seventh time in school history SMSU has won 19 games in a single-season.
 
Southwest Minnesota State closes out its regular season home schedule next weekend taking on Wayne State on Friday, Feb. 10, and Augustana on Saturday, Feb. 11.