MARSHALL, Minn. – Anthony Costello scored a career-high 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting, while Jake Phipps added 16 points and eight rebounds to help Southwest Minnesota State to a 72-64 victory over Bemidji State in NSIC men's basketball on Saturday night inside the R/A Facility.
 
The victory snapped a two-game losing skid for SMSU and was also the 200^th career victory for Mustang head coach Brad Bigler. The program's all-time leader in victories, Bigler is 200-160 in his 13^th season as head coach.
 
SMSU (10-7, 6-6 NSIC) closed the game shooting 52 percent (29 of 56) from the field, including 8 of 20 from 3-point range. BSU finished the night shooting 39 percent (25 of 65) while making 7 of 24 from 3-point range.

Sam Schwartz added 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting for the Mustangs, while teammates Cliff McCray, Kenny Byers and Dunwa Omot all added eight points.
 
The Beavers (6-11, 3-10 NSIC) held a 36-35 rebound advantage with 17 offensive rebounds and held a 20-10 scoring edge in second chance points.
 
SMSU used a key 9-0 run midway through the second half to pull away for the victory. With SMSU leading 48-45, Costello hit a jumper and a minute later Logan Benson made a pair of free throws to make the score 52-45. Following a steal from Schwartz, the Mustangs added to the lead behind a 3-pointer from Omot and capped by a Phipps layup to make the score 57-45 with 7:47 left in the game.
 
BSU would make one more run and cut the lead to 64-55 with 3:30 remaining, but field goals by Byers, McCray and Phipps over the next 90 seconds sealed the victory.
 
The teams played a back-and-forth affair for much of the first 10 minutes with Costello drilling a 3-pointer to give the Mustangs a 21-18 advantage with 9:22 left in the first half.
 
BSU would rally and regain the lead at 24-23 before SMSU answered with a big run to take its largest lead of the half. McCray started the run with a layup and was followed by a layup and 3-pointer by Phipps and a layup by Schwartz to push the SMSU lead to 32-24 with 2:36 on the clock.
 
Schwartz would give SMSU a 34-27 lead just over a minute later before BSU ended the half with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 34-30 at halftime.
 
SMSU shot 46 percent in the opening half with four 3-pointers, while BSU shot 32 percent with four 3-pointers.
 
BSU started the second half strong with six straight points to regain the lead and would later hold a 38-37 with 16 minutes left, but a Costello field goal with 15:29 on the clock would put the Mustangs back in the lead for the rest of the game.
 
Mohamed Kone and Gare Ewefada each led the Beavers with 12 points.
 
Southwest Minnesota State returns to the road next weekend with its final two regular season games versus NSIC North Division teams. The Mustangs play next Friday versus nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth before taking on St. Cloud State on Saturday.