MOORHEAD, Minn. – No. 1 ranked MSU Moorhead remained undefeated with the Dragons' Jacob Beeninga hitting the game-winning field goal with 2.6 seconds left in overtime to give MSUM a thrilling 88-87 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in NSIC men's basketball on Friday night inside Nemzek Fieldhouse.
 
SMSU, which defeated No. 1 Northwest Missouri State earlier this season, took an 87-86 lead with 10 seconds left in overtime after Dunwa Omot made one of two free throws. Following a timeout, Beeninga drove the length of the court and pulled up from 15 feet for the game-winning field goal.
 
SMSU saw its five-game conference winning streak end and drops to 9-7 overall, 6-4 NSIC, while MSU is now 15-0, 9-0 NSIC.
 
Jake Phipps scored a game-high 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting to pace the Mustangs, while also grabbing four rebounds and blocking four shots. Cliff Cofield scored 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers while dishing out a team-high five assists and grabbing six rebounds. Jakob Braaten (13), Omot (12), and Aeron Stevens (11) all finished the night in double figure scoring. Braaten made 6 of 7 field goals and pulled down six rebounds.
 
Beeninga and Ja'Kair Sanchez both scored a team-high 18 points for the Dragons.
 
SMSU finished the night shooting 52 percent (33 of 63) from the field, while making 6 of 17 from 3-point range. MSUM shot 40 percent (31 of 77) overall, while making 9 of 29 from 3-point range.
 
The Dragons held a 44-37 rebound advantage which included 18 offensive rebounds. The extra chances led to a 25-10 advantage in second-chance points for MSUM.
 
SMSU started the game strong scoring the first 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Cofield. MSUM cut the deficit to 12-6, before SMSU's Mason Lund and Braaten connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Mustang advantage to 18-6 with just under 15 minutes remaining in the half.
 
SMSU, which made five 3-pointers in the opening half, held a 27-16 lead following a 3-pointer by Phipps at the 10:52 mark.
 
Braaten would score on a layup with 2:49 remaining to give SMSU a 42-35 lead, but MSUM would close the half on a 7-0 run in the final 1:39 to tie the game at 42-42 into the halftime break.
 
MSUM scored the first field goal of the second half and eventually pushed the lead to 53-48 with 15 minutes left in regulation. SMSU answered with six straight points, capped by a pair of Kyle Luedtke free throws to put the Mustangs back in front at 54-53.
 
The teams would continue to battle exchanging the lead numerous times with Omot putting SMSU in the lead with 6:56 remaining with a 3-pointer to make the score 67-66.
Sanchez would put MSUM in the lead with 1:06 left with a field goal, but Stevens answered with two free throws with 59 seconds left to tie the game at 76.
 
MSUM missed on a jumper on its next possession, but SMSU failed to regain the lead following a pair of missed free throws with 46 seconds remaining. The SMSU defense would force another stop on the ensuing MSUM possession to set up a potential game-winning field goal attempt, but unfortunately SMSU turned the ball over with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.
 
MSUM would build an 86-82 lead with 1:42 remaining in overtime, but SMSU answered once again with Phipps scoring and was followed a possession later on a Cofield layup with 38 seconds remaining.
 
Omot would block MSUM's attempt to regain the lead and was fouled moments later and made one of two to put SMSU back in the lead.
 
SMSU continues the weekend road trip on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. match-up at Minot State in Minot, N.D.