MARSHALL, Minn. – Southwest Minnesota State clinched a spot in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament earning a hard-fought 60-55 overtime victory over Wayne State in men's college basketball on Thursday night inside the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU, which won its second straight, improves to 14-10 overall, 10-9 NSIC. SMSU's win tonight, along with Minnesota State's loss to Upper Iowa, has clinched the Mustangs at least the No. 5 seed in the NSIC Tournament starting on Feb. 23.
 
SMSU, now 3-1 in overtime games this season, will close the regular season on Saturday at No. 5 and NSIC regular season champion Augustana.
 
WSC, ranked No. 9 in this week's NCAA Central Region rankings, drops to 13-11 overall, 10-8 NSIC.
 
Both teams struggled shooting on the night with SMSU finishing at 34 percent (20 of 59), including 5 of 19 from 3-point range. WSC closed the game shooting 31 percent (20 of 64), while making 6 of 23 from 3-point land.
 
Kenny Byers led the Mustangs with his second double-double of the season with a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jake Phipps picked-up his fifth double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebound, while also adding four blocked shots. Dunwa Omot and Cliff McCray each added 12 points for the Mustangs.
 
Nate Mohr led the Wildcats with 18 points which included making four 3-pointers.
 
In the overtime frame, Mohr snapped a 49-all game with a pair of free throws with 3:20 remaining. SMSU answered with an offensive rebound and put-back basket by Phipps to tie the game. The score would remain tied at 51 until Omot hit one of two free throws to put the Mustangs in front at 52-51 with 1:24 left. Following a missed field goal by WSC, the Mustangs added to the lead with 1:10 left on a pair of free throws by McCray to make the score 54-51.
 
The two free throws by McCray were the start of eight straight made by the Mustangs in the final 70 seconds of the game to hold off the Wildcats. SMSU entered the game ranked 23^rd in the country in free throw percentage.
 
WSC had one final shot at tying the game in closing seconds, but Justin Eagins' 3-point field goal missed securing the SMSU victory.
 
SMSU jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead in the opening two and a half minutes behind five points from McCray and four from Byers.
 
SMSU would later build an 11-2 lead, but WSC rallied back and cut the deficit to 13-12 with 13:54 left in the half.
 
The Mustangs would later build a 23-18 advantage following a 3-pointer by Logan Benson, but the Wildcats countered with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 24-23 at the 5:07 mark.
 
Byers and Phipps connected on a pair of field goals to put SMSU back in front at 27-24, but once again WSC had an answer and tied the game at 27 heading into halftime.
 
Both teams struggled shooting in the opening 20 minutes with SMSU finishing at 35 percent with WSC at 33 percent.  
 
The second half was a back-and-forth affair as neither team held a lead of more than three points, which SMSU led 35-32 with 15:21 left in regulation.
 
WSC held its last lead of regulation at 49-47 with 5:06 left but failed to score again as SMSU would tie the game at 49 on a Byers field goal at the 3:18 mark.
 
Both teams had shots in the final 15 seconds for the go-ahead points, but Byers missed a jumper with 13 seconds left, while Eagins missed a jumper for the win as time expired.