SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team showed resilience on Saturday evening, defeating Augustana in NSIC men's basketball inside the Sanford Pentagon by a score of 71-62.
 
SMSU jumps to a 4-3 league mark and moves to 7-4 overall. Augustana drops to 6-6 overall, 2-5 NSIC.
 
Jake Phipps had a big game for the Mustangs, recording 19 points on 6 of 11 shots, while grabbing eight rebounds. Cliff Cofield chipped in with 17 points, a team-high eight assists, while pulling down eight rebounds. Mason Lund collected 11 points in the affair in addition to his seven rebounds. Kyle Luedtke rounded out the top SMSU scorers with 10 points and three rebounds.
 
SMSU shot 42 percent (23 of 55) from the field with eight 3-pointers while losing the rebound battle to the Vikings by two rebounds. AU closed the game shooting 33 percent (20 of 60), while making 4 of 16 shots from 3-point range. Arhman Lewis led the Vikings with 16 points, making 6 of 14 from the field.
 
Augustana scored the game's first points but eventually fell to a 3-2 disadvantage with just under a minute drained off the clock following a 3-pointer by Luedtke.
 
SMSU and AU traded punches for the first 12 minutes of the half before the score settled at 20-20 with eight and a half minutes remaining in the period. SMSU would explode into a 13-3 run for the next four minutes en route to building a 10 point advantage.
 
The Vikings wouldn't go away, using a 6-2 run to move the score to 35-29 at the half.

The Mustangs reclaimed momentum in the early minutes of the second half, scoring three straight layups. Isaac Fink drained a three to put an end to the run, which was followed quickly by a Mustang score to bring the game to 46-34 with 17 minutes remaining.

Augustana pursued a 8-4 run for four minutes to bring the score to 50-42 at the first media timeout. SMSU would go on a mini run of its own with just over 10 minutes to play before Augustana cut the momentum with a 3-pointer from Arhman Lewis.
 
Dunwa Omot drained a three with just over six minutes left in the game to push the SMSU lead to 61-53. Jake Phipps followed the score with a layup to put the Mustangs up by 10 points for the second time in the game.

Jadan Graves nailed a jumper following the third media timeout to pull the Vikings within six. SMSU would close the game with a 7-4 run, with Cofield sealing the deal at the foul line.

UP NEXT
 
SMSU will close its pre-holiday schedule with two non-conference games in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., on Monday and Tuesday against Lake Superior State and Maryville (Mo.).