MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team used its stifling defense to knock off the St. Cloud State Huskies 69-58 on Friday night inside the R/A Facility.

After the Huskies opened the game 8 of 10 from the field, the Mustang shut down SCSU, holding them to 12 of 51 shooting the rest of the way to victory. 

SMSU moves to 12-6 overall, 8-5 NSIC, while the Huskies fall to 7-11 overall, 4-9 NSIC. 

In total, SCSU shot 32.8 percent (20 of 61) from the field, including 23.3 percent (7 of 30) in the second half, while making 10 of 36 from 3-point range.  

It is the eighth time in the last 11 games the Mustangs have held its opponent under 35 percent from the field in the second half. 

SMSU closed the night shooting 35.7 percent (20 of 56) from the field and were 4 of 19 from 3-point range. The Mustangs were dominant inside, holding a 49-34 advantage on the glass, including 16-10 on the offensive glass, turning that into a 21-11 advantage in second chance points, and outscoring SCSU 30-16 in the paint.

SMSU was led by Dunwa Omot, who scored 27 points, one off a career-high, tied a career-high with seven rebounds and two blocks, and made 10 of 11 free throws, both career bests. Jake Phipps added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Cliff McCray tallied eight points, grabbed seven rebounds, and snagged a pair of steals. Anthony Costello also scored eight points, while Jake Layman (six points), Majok Majouk (four points and eight rebounds), and Jake Braaten (four points) rounded out seven Mustang scorers.

The two teams opened the game shooting 10 of 15 combined, seeing the game knot at 13-13 with 15:07 left in the first half. 

The Mustangs followed that with a 1 of 9 shooting slump as the Huskies took a 12-2 run to lead 25-15 at the 8:05 mark. 

A 7-0 SMSU run brought them within three at 25-22, and after SCSU grew its lead back to seven, the Mustangs would go on a 9-2 run in the final 4:44, including a key Costello block leading to a transition three from Omot with 51 seconds to go and a pair of Phipps free throws with three seconds left to tie the score at 33-33. 

The game saw its final tie at 42-42 with 16:22 left in the game. The Mustangs scored the next four points, and after SCSU cut its deficit to one, Omot would hit a three with 7:52 to go to bring the lead back to four at 55-51.

A 7-3 run, led by four McCray points grew the lead to 62-54 with 2:46 left, but a pair of Huskie layups brought them back within four at 62-58 with 34 seconds to go. 

SMSU went on to ice the game at the free throw line, scoring the final seven points on seven of eight shooting from the line to bring the game to its final score. 

The Mustangs close out a four-game homestand hosting Minnesota Duluth at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon inside the R/A Facility.