MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team used strong defense, limiting No. 16-ranked Fort Hays State to 37 percent shooting in the second half, in rallying for a 68-62 victory in the season opener for both teams on Friday night inside the R/A Facility.
Both SMSU and FHSU played in the NCAA tournament last season in Mankato with both losing in the opening round.
Aeron Stevens led the Mustangs, which is receiving votes in the preseason NABC Top 25, with a career-high 29 points on 7 of 18 shooting, while making 14 of 16 from the free throw line and grabbing eight rebounds.
Dunwa Omot was the only other SMSU player to reach double-figure scoring with 10 points.
Jakob Braaten tied a career-high with nine rebounds, while dishing out a game-high five assists. The Mustangs used a balanced scoring attack with
Mason Lund scoring eight points,
Calvin Buss adding seven points, while
Mekhi Shaw chipped in with six points and added four steals.
SMSU finished the night shooting 41 percent (20 of 53) from the field, including 6 of 17 from 3-point range. The Mustangs shot just 35 percent in the opening 20 minutes as the Tigers build a 31-28 halftime advantage.
FHSU, picked to win the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, was led by Kyle Grill's 15 points with three 3-pointers. Kaleb Hammek, an all-region honoree last season, added 14 points. The Tigers, which shot 44 percent in the opening half, closed the game shooting 40 percent (22 of 55), while making 10 of 26 from 3-point range.
FHSU never trailed in the first half and built a 23-16 lead with 8:16 left in half before Buss drilled a 3-pointer and
Caleb Schlaak later added a layup to cut the margin to 23-21.
FHSU would take a pair of eight-point leads later in the half, including 31-23 with just over two minutes remaining, but SMSU closed the half on a pair of Stevens free throws and three straight from Lund to cut the deficit to 31-28 at halftime.
SMSU would take its first lead of the game with just over 17 minutes remaining on an Omot field goal and would never trail again. Lund hit a jumper to give SMSU a 36-33 lead and one minute drilled his only 3-pointer of the game at the 15:15 mark pushing the lead to 39-35.
SMSU maintained a four-point lead near the eight-minute mark before Shaw drilled a big 3-pointer to make the score 49-42.
The turning point came with 2:52 left in the game as SMSU pushed a five-point lead into a 12-point cushion with no time coming off the clock. With SMSU holding a 53-48 advantage, Stevens drew a shooting foul, and while at the line FHSU's Shaun Riley, who was called for the original foul, was tagged with a technical foul. Moments later, FHSU head coach Mark Johnson was whistled for two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. Stevens calmly made seven of eight free throw attempts to push the score to 60-48.
FHSU battled back and made the deficit 65-60 with 25 seconds remaining, but Stevens made three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Friday was the fifth time SMSU and FHSU have opened the season since the 2013-14 season with SMSU now holding a 4-3 series lead. The teams first met at the 2001 NCAA tournament in St. Cloud, Minn., with SMSU earning a second-round victory on its way to the NCAA Elite Eight.
SMSU concludes the weekend on Saturday with a 6 p.m. match-up versus Nebraska Kearney (0-1). UNK suffered a 95-93 overtime loss to Concordia-St. Paul earlier on Friday inside the R/A Facility. CSP and FHSU meet on Saturday inside the R/A Facility with tipoff slated 4 p.m.
