WAYNE, Neb. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team closed its weekend with an 83-62 loss on the road against Wayne State on Saturday afternoon inside Rice Auditorium. 
 
The Mustangs, now 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in the NSIC, shot 49.1 percent (26 of 53) from the field, but shot just 33.3 percent (7 of 21) beyond the arc, while Wayne State, 7-2 and 2-1, shot 56.1 percent (32 of 57) from the field and a staggering 52.2 percent (12 of 23) from deep. 
 
WSC held advantages in steals (13-5), fastbreak points (16-4), points off turnovers (26-8), and assists (19-10) in the wire-to-wire victory. 
 
The Mustangs had three in double figures, with Cliff McCray scoring a team-high 13 points. Dunwa Omot tallied 12 points and a pair of assists, and Jakob Braaten scored a career-high 11 points with two steals. Jake Phipps grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds and added nine points. He is the first SMSU player to grab 15 rebounds in a game since Kenny Byers had 15 at Minnesota Duluth on Dec. 14, 2019. Mason Lund scored eight points of his own, while Majok Majouk picked up five points, three rebounds, two steals and a block. 
 
The Wildcats opened the game scoring 17 of the first 25 points in the game to lead 17-8 with 12:49 left in the first half. Over the next five and a half minutes, SMSU outscored WSC 12-9 to cut its deficit to 26-20. 
 
Wayne State closed the final 7:29 shooting 7 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from deep, growing its lead to 44-30 at the half. 
 
The first seven points of the second half went the way of the Wildcats, giving them a 21-point cushion at 51-30 with 16:28 to go in the game. 
 
The teams teetered for three minutes, with SMSU outscoring WSC 9-8 to cut the Wayne lead to 20 with 13:33 left in the game. 
 
A 9-0 Mustang run followed, bringing SMSU within 11 at 59-48. SMSU continued inching closer, getting as close as nine at 62-53 with 8:01 to go, but the Wildcats closed the game on a 21-8 run to bring the game to its final score.
 
The Mustangs return to the court on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m., against Winona State in Winona, Minn.