MARSHALL, Minn. – Dunwa Omot scored a game-high 17 points, while Jake Phipps added 13 points, four blocked and four rebounds to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 62-58 victory over No. 14-ranked Minnesota State inside the R/A Facility on Saturday night in NSIC men's college basketball.
 
SMSU, which improves to 7-4 overall, 4-3, earns its first win over at Top 25 team since defeating Northern State on Jan. 27, 2018.
 
MSU dropped its second straight game and is now 10-3 overall, 4-3 NSIC.
 
SMSU finished the game shooting just 34 percent (22 of 64), including 8 of 22 from 3-point range and was outrebounded 46-32, but committed just four turnovers. Anthony Costello was the third SMSU player to score double figures with 10 points, while Mason Lund pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and added six points. Cliff McCray chipped in with seven points, four assists and three steals.
 
MSU closed the night shooting 38 percent (22 of 58) from the field, while making 8 of 26 3-pointers. Malik Willingham and Harrison Braudis led the Mavericks with 12 points apiece.
 
SMSU led for more than 35 minutes in the game and held a 12-point lead in the second half with 8:32 remaining, but MSU would rally to take a pair of one-point leads, including 58-57 with 58 seconds left.
 
SMSU rallied to regain the lead on a McCray layup with 44 seconds remaining to take a 59-58 advantage. After a timeout by MSU, Phipps came through with a blocked shot and secured the rebound with 18 seconds remaining. He then stepped up and connected on a pair of free throws to give the Mustangs a 61-58 lead.
 
On the ensuing MSU possession, the Mavericks turned the ball over near midcourt with 12 seconds left and Omot would seal the win making one of two free throws.
 
SMSU would take an early lead and build a 21-12 first half advantage following a Costello layup with 7:25 remaining. Sam Schwartz would hit a jumper to make the score 24-14, while later in the half Phipps scored on a layup to once again give the Mustangs a 10-point lead at 26-16 with four minutes remaining.
 
The Mavericks would later trim the deficit to 26-24, but an Omot 3-pointer started a 7-0 run to close the half, capped off by a McCray 3-pointer to give the Mustangs a 33-24 halftime lead.
 
The Mustangs would maintain the lead in the second half and built its largest lead of the game at 50-38 with 8:32 on the clock following a Costello layup. The Mavericks wouldn't go away and used an 18-5 run to take its first lead of the half with three minutes remaining on Malcolm Jones' third 3-pointer of the game.
 
Noah Chamberlain then came through with two big free throws to put the Mustangs back in front at 57-56 at the 2:30 mark before Trevor Moore gave MSU its last lead of the game with two free throws.
 
SMSU will close out its pre-holiday schedule on Monday morning with a non-conference home game versus Northland College with tip-off slated for 11:30 a.m. Monday's game is 'Elementary & Community Day' inside the R/A Facility with free admission for all fans.