FAYETTE, Iowa – The No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team dropped a non-conference overtime nail-biter 79-78 to Upper Iowa on Sunday afternoon inside Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. 

SMSU drops its first game of the season and sits at 4-1. Upper Iowa jumps to 5-1 on the year.

SMSU finished the game shooting 50 percent (32 of 64) from the field and made 14 of 22 attempts from the charity stripe. The Mustangs made no shots from beyond the arc for the first time since the 1998 season, marking an end to a 752-game streak of making a 3-pointer.

The Mustangs were led by Aeron Stevens and Jakob Braaten, who poured in 20 points apiece. Stevens also recorded seven rebounds and a pair of assists. The 20 points are a career-high for Braaten, who also posted six rebounds and a block in the loss. Steven Kramer rounded out the top scorers with 15 points on 60 percent (6 of 10) shooting with two steals.

SMSU paced the game from the start, using a pair of Braaten layups and a Kramer and-one to lead 9-6 with 16:27 remaining in the first half. Coming out of the media timeout the tides would turn, as UIU pursued an 8-0 run over a minute and a half to lead 17-11. 

The Mustang combined a dunk and a pair of layups over the next two minutes to tie the game at 17-17 with 12:43 to go in the first frame. UIU would drill two 3-pointers to retake the lead but the Mustangs would not go away, as Aeron Stevens made a pair of layups to give SMSU a 24-23 lead with 10 minutes left. 

Mekhi Shaw and Mason Lund would knock down jumpers to help SMSU to a 30-26 lead, but the Mustangs would then be held scoreless over the following four minutes as the Peacocks would battle back to a 32-30 lead with 3:13 left in the half.

SMSU rallied for a 10-7 run to close out the half with a 40-39 lead. The Mustangs shot 55.9 percent from the field in the first half, attempting just two 3-pointers.

The Peacocks opened the second half on a 14-6 run backed by four 3-pointers to lead SMSU 53-46 with 15 minutes to play. The Peacocks would hold a six-point lead until converting an and-one with 10:36 to play in the second half. SMSU would finally get some offense going with nine minutes left in the game, securing back-to-back jump shots to shrink the margin to three.

Kramer came up big by sinking both free throws of a one-and-one to close the gap to one point with 5:26 to play until Stevens sunk both of his free throws to give SMSU its first lead since 18:01 in the half at 68-66 with 3:23 to go.

Upper Iowa got a layup to go with 2:43 remaining before the next minute and a half was silent for scoring. With 56 seconds remaining Noah King would drill a 3-pointer to give UIU the 71-68 lead. SMSU would grab a defensive rebound from a missed free throw and use the final 30 seconds for a comeback. A missed 3-pointer awarded an offensive rebound to Jakob Braaten who was then fouled on the way up by Jack Miller.

Braaten would sink the first shot before SMSU called a timeout with the score at 71-69 to draw up a play for the end of the game. Back on the free throw line, Braaten would purposely miss to set up a play to tie the game. The ball was swung around the perimeter to an open Braaten in the left corner, who would then drive into the paint with a strong finish at the rim to tie the game and force overtime. 

The Peacocks opened up overtime with a 3-pointer before SMSU sunk a pair of free throws to keep the game close. Braaten made a pair of jump shots and Stevens sunk a free throw to give SMSU a 78-75 lead with 2:11 to play. Noah King finally got the Peacocks a basket with 38 seconds remaining to pull the game within one point. Following a UIU timeout, Stevens would get called for a foul at the rim, which would give the Peacocks two free throws to close out the game.

SMSU returns home on Tuesday for its NSIC opener versus Wayne State at 7:30 p.m.