SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team closed with a 24-12 run in the final eight minutes of the second half to rally and earn a big 64-54 road win over the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday afternoon inside the Stewart Center.
SMSU, which trailed by eight points in the second half, earned its fourth straight win and improves to 9-4 overall, 5-3 NSIC. USF, which was tied atop the NSIC South Division standings entering the day, had its three-game win streak snapped and falls to 10-4 overall, 5-3 NSIC.
The win also completed a season sweep for the Mustangs which defeated the Cougars in the league opener in Marshall in late November.
Dunwa Omot led the Mustangs with a team-high 20 points, while
Anthony Costello added 17 points with 15 coming in the second half. Omot connected on 8 of 11 from the field and was 4 of 4 from the foul line, while Costello finished 7 of 11 shooting with a team-high two 3-pointers.
The Mustangs shot 54 percent (26 of 48) from the field, while making 5 of 11 3-pointers. SMSU was red-hot in the second half, making 15 of 26 field goals (58 percent) with three 3-pointers.
The Cougars were limited to 33 percent (22 of 66) shooting including 8 of 34 from 3-point range. The SMSU defense was outstanding in the second half limiting USF to just 28 percent shooting.
Matt Cartwright led the Cougars with 20 points on 8 of 23 shooting with four 3-pointers.
SMSU earned the win despite USF holding a 40-28 rebound margin, including a 16-1 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Costello and
Majok Majouk led the Mustangs with six rebounds each.
USF, which led 30-25 at halftime, built its largest lead at 33-25 with over two minutes into the second half. The Cougars would later hold a 39-32 advantage with 10:50 left in the second half before the Mustangs countered with a big run to take its first lead of the second half.
Omot started the spark with a layup and was followed by field goals by
Jakob Braaten and Costello and another layup by Omot to give the Mustangs a 40-39 lead at the 8:29 mark.
Conner Jackson would hit a 3-pointer for USF to regain the lead, but Costello answered with a 3-pointer and moments later hit another field goal to put SMSU up 45-42.
Cartwright would make a layup to cut the deficit to 45-44, but SMSU had an answer once again with Omot converting a three-point play and back-to-back field goals by
Jake Phipps would push the Mustang lead to 52-44 with 4:44 remaining.
USF wouldn't go away and eventually pulled to within 58-54 with 1:26 left in the game, but Costello drilled a corner 3-pointer at the 1:12 mark to extend the lead to 61-54 and the Mustang never looked back in improving to 3-2 in true road games this season.
The teams played a tight opening 11 minutes before the Mustangs used a big run to build their largest lead of the opening half. With the game tied at 15,
Jakob Braaten scored on a layup to start a 7-2 run with five straight points scored by Omot to build a 22-17 advantage at the 4:26 mark.
USF, however, would answer with a 13-3 run in the final four minutes of the half to take a 30-25 halftime lead. The Cougars recorded eight offensive rebounds in the first half which led to six points.
SMSU shot 50 percent in the first half with a pair of 3-pointers, while USF shot just 38 percent, but made four 3-pointers.
SMSU continued road action next Friday and Saturday with two games in North Dakota. The Mustangs take on UMary in Bismarck on Friday at 7:30 p.m. before facing Minot State on Saturday, Jan. 7.
