MARSHALL, Minn. – Cliff McCray scored the game-winning layup with 34 seconds remaining to rally Southwest Minnesota State to a 67-63 victory over Concordia-St. Paul in NSIC college men's basketball on Friday night inside the R/A Facility.
SMSU, which trailed by 12 points in the second half, closed the game on a 9-2 run in the final 3:07 to earn the win and improve to 6-4 overall, 3-3 NSIC.
Dunwa Omot led the Mustangs with a season-high 24 points on 8 of 16 shooting with four 3-pointers. He also added three steals and three assists, including the pass to set-up McCray for the winning field goal.
Anthony Costello was the only other Mustang to score in double figures with 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting.
SMSU closed the night shooting 52 percent (25 of 48) from the field, including 6 of 16 from 3-point range.
CSP, which drops to 3-8 overall, 1-5 NSIC, and coming off a last-second win over Augustana last Saturday, finished the night shooting 43 percent (23 of 53), but shot just 31 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Golden Bears were led by Antwan Kimmons' 17 points.
SMSU, which trailed 54-42 with 10 minutes left in the game, started the comeback with a layup by
Jake Phipps, a jumper from
Majok Majouk and a 3-pointer by Phipps to pull to within 54-49 at the 7:40 mark.
CSP would hold a 57-49 advantage with 6:25 remaining, before
Anthony Costello hit a pair of free throws to spark a 9-1 run with
Noah Chamberlain tying the game with a layup off a pass from McCray to tie the game at 58 with 4:34 remaining.
CSP would go back on top with a Caden Hoffman 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but a minute later Omot drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game at 61 with 3:07 left. Omot would tie the game with two free throws with 1:32 remaining and following a missed 3-pointer by the Golden Bears with one minute remaining, SMSU would answer with the game-winning field goal.
Both teams would commit turnovers, setting up CSP for a chance to tie or retake the lead, but Hoffman missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left and Phipps secured the rebound and made a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
CSP scored the game's first six points and would maintain the lead until Chamberlain scored on a layup to tie the game at 12 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
CSP would counter and build a pair of seven-point leads, including 25-18 at the 5:19 mark. SMSU answered with an Costello layup and a Omot 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 25-23 with 3:38 remaining.
Omot would score a field goal with just under a minute left in the half to cut the Golden Bears lead to 33-29, but CSP would close the half with a banked-in 3-pointer by Kimmons as time expired to build a 36-29 halftime advantage.
Omot led the Mustangs in the first half with 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting with three 3-pointers. SMSU shot 52 percent in the opening half, but CSP shot 56 percent and made four 3-pointers.
SMSU continues the weekend homestand on Saturday facing No. 14 ranked Minnesota State with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m. MSU lost to Sioux Falls, 71-48, on Friday night.
