MARSHALL, Minn. – Truman State scored the final 11 points, including a pair of free throws with six seconds left to defeat the Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team 64-63 on Saturday afternoon at the R/A Facility.
SMSU, now 2-1 on the season, closed the game shooting 45.3 percent (24 of 53) from the field and 41.2 percent (7 of 17) from the three-point line, while Truman State, 3-1 on the year, shot 42.1 percent from the field (24 of 57), and just 17.4 percent (4 of 23) from 3-point range, but outscored SMSU 12-8 from the free throw line and on the fast break 17-2.
Truman lead for just 20 seconds of the game, leading for 14 seconds after scoring the first basket and the final six seconds after the free throws.
Jake Phipps filled it up for SMSU, scoring 14 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and dishing five assists.
Dunwa Omot also scored 14, snagging a pair of steals, and
Cliff McCray finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
After Truman opened the scoring with a layup in its first possession, McCray got the offense rolling, scoring four points and dishing an assist during an 8-0 run to take an 8-2 lead with 17:17 left in the half.
After the Bulldogs inched the deficit to four, a
Sam Schwartz layup and
Jakob Braaten three-pointer grew the lead back, bringing the score to 18-9. The teams would see-saw until the 5:29 mark of the second half, with SMSU holding a 30-21 lead.
Phipps and Omot would carry the offense, with Omot scoring seven and Phipps scoring six to lead a 13-2 run, giving SMSU a 41-23 lead with six seconds left, but Truman would run down the court and hit a jumper as time expired to trail by 16 at the half.
McCray led all scorers at the half, scoring 10 points and adding four assists and three rebounds.
That buzzer beater would prove to be a valuable basket, as the Bulldogs came out of the locker room and opened the second half on an 8-2 run to cut the Mustang lead to 10 at 43-33 with 15:07 left to play.
The teams split eight points, but a Schwartz three-pointer with 10:51 in the game gave SMSU a 54-41 lead. The Bulldogs continued to claw back, scoring the next six points to trail by seven, and the Mustang lead stayed in single figures until an Omot three-pointer with 3:14 to go put SMSU up 63-53.
This would mark the last Mustang points before the Bulldog run ended the game.
SMSU opens conference season at home, hosting Sioux Falls on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., inside the R/A Facility.r
