Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State shot 55 percent from the field and connected on 13 3-pointers to earn its second straight victory with a 79-71 victory over the University of Mary in NSIC men's college basketball on Saturday night at the R/A Facility.
 
Ryan Bruggeman poured in a game-high 29 points on 9 of 15 shooting with three 3-pointers, while also dishing out a game-high seven assists to pace the Mustangs, which improve to 10-8 overall, 5-7 NSIC. Teammate Braedan Hanson added 16 points with four 3-pointers, while Nick Dufault also drilled four 3-points and closed with 14 points to pace the SMSU offense. Kenny Byers chipped in with six points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
After failing to shoot 50 percent in any of its first 10 conference games, SMSU has now shot over 50 percent in both victories this weekend.
 
UMary (7-11, 4-8 NSIC) was led by Connor Hellebust, who made 7 of 13 field goal with three 3-pointers to finish with 21 points. The Marauders closed the night shooting 37 percent (25 of 68) from the field, including 8 of 27 from 3-point range.
 
SMSU held a slight 17-16 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half, but a 3-pointer and jumper from Bruggeman pushed the Mustang advantage to 22-16. Following a layup by UMary's Johnnie Turner, Hanson connected on a 3-pointer to start an SMSU 11-0 run to build its largest lead of the half at 33-18 with 7:07 remaining.
 
The Mustangs cooled off in the final seven minutes however as the Marauders rallied back to cut the deficit to 39-30 at halftime.
 
SMSU shot 58 percent in the first 20 minutes with seven 3-pointers, while limiting UMary to 39 percent shooting. Bruggeman led the way 17 first half points with three 3-pointers.
 
SMSU quickly extended the margin to 47-31 early in the second half, but UMary rallied to cut the deficit to 47-38 at the 16-minute mark.
 
The Mustang lead would extend to 18 points at 58-40 following a Dufault 3-pointer with 13:28 remaining, but once again the Marauders wouldn't go away and trimmed the lead to 60-50 midway through the half.
 
With SMSU holding a 64-53 lead, Hanson scored on a jumper and then followed with a 3-pointer to make the score 69-53 with 7:37 remaining. SMSU maintained a 73-59 edge with 2:54 left, but UMary would score seven straight points to cut the lead to single digits at 73-66 at the 1:36 mark.
 
SMSU would make enough plays and free throws in the final 90 seconds to seal the victory, which is its 10^th in 11 meetings versus UMary in Marshall all-time.
 
Southwest Minnesota State returns to NSIC South Division play next Friday with a match-up at Winona State starting at 7:30 p.m.