MARSHALL, Minn. – Dunwa Omot tied a career-high with 28 points on 10 of 17 shooting with four 3-pointers and tied a career-high with seven rebounds to pace Southwest Minnesota State to a thrilling 69-63 home victory over Minnesota Duluth in NSIC men's college basketball.
 
SMSU remains tied atop the NSIC South Division standings with a 9-5 league mark and improves to 13-6 overall. UMD, the preseason favorite in the NSIC, drops to 14-6 overall, 10-4 NSIC.
 
Jake Phipps also had a big game for the Mustangs with 20 points, making 7 of 9 shots, while grabbing five rebounds. Majok Majouk chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists with teammate Cliff McCray dishing out a game-high seven assists.
 
SMSU shot 47 percent (26 of 55) from the field with six 3-pointers and held a 33-29 rebound advantage. UMD closed the game shooting 42 percent (22 of 53), while making seven of 22 from 3-point range. Jack Middleton led the Bulldogs with 16 points.
 
SMSU scored the game's first six points and eventually built a 16-7 advantage with just under 15 minutes left in the half following a jumper by Anthony Costello.
 
UMD cut the deficit to 20-17 midway through the half before a 3-pointer and lay-up by Phipps pushed the SMSU lead to 25-17.
 
The Bulldogs continued to chip away at the deficit and finally took its first lead of the game at 35-33 with 50 seconds left in the half before Costello scored on the following possession to send the game into the halftime break tied at 35.
 
UMD would score the first field goal of the second half, but the lead didn't last for long as Omot hit a 3-pointer to put SMSU back in the lead which eventually extended to a five-point lead at the 14:33 mark following a dunk by Majouk.
 
SMSU would maintain the lead until 8:30 left when UMD's Drew Blair hit a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs a 51-50 lead.
 
For the second time in the half, the lead didn't last long as Omot drilled a 3-pointer and McCray completed a three-point play to push the SMSU advantage to 56-51.
 
SMSU would stay in the lead for the remainder of the game with Omot making a big 3-pointer with 3:34 left to make the score 63-57. UMD cut the deficit to 65-63 with just over a minute remaining, but another big dunk by Majouk off an assist from McCray with 50 seconds left helped seal the victory.
 
SMSU concludes play versus NSIC North Division opponents next weekend playing at Bemidji State next Friday, Jan. 27, starting at 5:30 p.m. The Mustangs will play at Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, Jan. 28, with game time at 3:30 p.m.