Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State put together a furious comeback in the final seven minutes of the game with outstanding defense to rally for a dramatic 69-67 victory over Winona State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball on Saturday night at the R/A Facility.
 
It was the final regular season home game for SMSU's five seniors with senior Ryan Bruggeman scoring a game-high 28 points, while fellow senior Taylor Schafer added 14 points. Kenny Byers added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds for the Mustangs. Senior Kolin Bartlett added four points, five rebounds and one blocked shot to help the comeback. Bruggeman scored 10 points in the final 8:29, including the game-tying and game-winning field goals.
 
SMSU, which improves to 15-11 overall, 10-10 NSIC, shot 48 percent (28 of 58) from the field, while making 5 of 13 3-point attempts. The Mustangs, which were outrebounded 39-27, forced the Warriors into 13 turnovers—five more than the WSU's per game average. SMSU also earned its first victory this season when scoring less than 70 points in a game.
 
WSU drops to 11-15 overall, 8-12 NSIC, was led by Kevion Taylor's 12 points and seven rebounds. The Warriors shot 42 percent (25 of 59) from the field, including 9 of 22 from 3-point range. WSU was shooting higher than 60 percent for much of the first 12 minutes of the second half.   
 
WSU led 61-51 with 9:30 and maintained a 65-58 advantage with 7:20 left in the game, but the Warriors made just one field goal in its last nine attempts of the game to allow the Mustangs to rally.
 
Bruggeman hit a pair of free throws to start the comeback with 6:26 remaining and was followed by a field goal from Byers with 5:38 left to cut the WSU lead to 65-62.
 
WSU would then hits its lone field goal in the final seven minutes at the 4:57 mark as Charlie Koontz scored on a layup to give the Warriors a 67-62 lead.
 
Following missed field goals by both teams, Schafer drilled a huge 3-pointer to bring SMSU to within 67-65 with just over four minutes remaining. Following another WSU missed shot, Bruggeman hit a jumper to tie the game at 67 with 3:10 on the clock.
 
Both teams missed several scoring opportunities in the next 90 seconds, but a steal by Bruggeman at the 1:40 mark helped SMSU take the lead for good. On the ensuing possession, Bruggeman hit another pull-up jumper to put SMSU in the lead at 69-67 with 1:21 remaining.
 
Neither team would score again as SMSU used some strong defense, including a big blocked shot from Grant Kramer with 12 seconds left with Schafer grabbing the rebound. Kramer would draw a foul with nine seconds remaining and would miss the front-end of a one-and-one, but WSU wasn't able to secure the rebound and Byers was fouled with three seconds left. Byers would also miss the front-end of the one-and-one, but WSU's Caleb Wagner long-range 3-pointer missed and SMSU picked up the victory and split the season series with the Warriors.
 
The teams played a back-and-forth affair for the game's first 11 minutes with five lead changes and six ties. WSU held a 22-20 advantage with nine minutes left in the half before Schafer connected on a jumper to start 12-2 run over the next three and a half minutes to give the Mustangs a 32-24 lead with 5:21 left.
 
Nick Dufault would hit three free throws at the 3:49 mark to extend the lead to 37-28. SMSU would cool off over missing seven of its next eight shots, but the SMSU defense was outstanding and allowed just two points in the final four and half minutes of the half. Leading by seven with three seconds left in the half and following a timeout, Bruggeman drilled a final second 3-pointer to send the Mustangs into the break with a 40-30 advantage.
 
SMSU shot 57 percent in the opening half with Bruggeman scoring 14 points.
 
Tonight was the final regular season home game for Bruggeman, Bartlett, Schafer, Lee and Steven McNease.
 
Southwest Minnesota State closes the regular season next weekend with a pair of road games. The Mustangs open the weekend on Friday, Feb. 22, at Wayne State with game time slated for 7:30 p.m.