MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 22 ranked Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team used a strong second half, shooting 57 percent in the final 20 minutes, to earn an 80-69 non-conference victory over Briar Cliff University (Iowa) on Saturday afternoon inside the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU, which trailed by 10 points in the opening half and 36-33 at halftime, was led by Dunwa Omot with 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Mekhi Shaw made 7 of 11 field goals for a career-high 17 points, while also grabbing a career-high six rebounds and recording four assists and three steals. Jakob Braaten reached double figures in scoring with 12 points, while Calvin Buss, making his first career start, poured in a career-high 11 points on 5 of 5 shooting. Caleb Schlaak also had a big game with a career-high nine points on a perfect 4 of 4 from the field with four rebounds.
 
SMSU (6-1) finished the day shooting 53 percent (34 of 64) from the field, including 3 of 18 from 3-point range. The Mustangs played the game without leading scorer, Aeron Stevens, who sat out due to an injury.
 
Today's game was an exhibition for BCU, which is 4-5 overall. Matthew Stilwill paced the Chargers with 22 points and seven rebounds. The Chargers shot 44 percent (25 of 57) from the field and were red-shot from 3-point range, making 11 of 29.
 
SMSU held a 13-11 advantage with 11:52 left in the first half following a Schlaak field goal. BCU answered with 10 straight points to regain the lead and would eventually build a pair of 10-point leads in the first half.
 
Trailing 34-24 with just under three minutes left in the half, SMSU countered with a Matt Thompson jumper and back-to-back field goals by Shaw to cut the deficit to 34-30. Following a BCU layup, SMSU closed the half with an Omot free throw and a Shaw lay-up to make the score 36-33 at the half.
 
BCU connected on six 3-pointers on 13 attempts in the opening half, while SMSU made just 2 of 11 from long-range.
 
SMSU scored the first five points of the second half to regain the advantage, but BCU would later use a 10-2 run to build a 48-41 lead with 15:38 left in the game.
 
The Mustangs countered in a big way scoring 11 straight points over a stretch lasting just over two minutes to take a 52-48 lead with Omot scoring seven points during the run. Following a 3-pointer by BCU to make the score 52-51, a Buss layup sparked a 7-0 run to extend the Mustang advantage to 59-51 with 10:50 remaining.
 
SMSU would later hold a 74-61 lead with just over five minutes remaining following a dunk by Mason Lund and a layup by Braaten. BCU would not go away and scored six straight to trim the deficit to 74-67, but a Buss tip-in stopped the run and Shaw hit two free throws with 35 second remaining to seal the win.
 
SMSU returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Friday, Dec. 6, hosting No. 4 ranked Minnesota Duluth (5-1) with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.