MANKATO, Minn. – Jakob Braaten scored a career-high 26 points with 10 field goals, while teammate Steven Kramer added a career-high 21 points to pace Southwest Minnesota State University to an 82-73 victory over Minnesota State University on Friday night inside the Taylor Center.
 
SMSU, which suffered its first league loss last Saturday, improves to 8-2 overall, 3-1 NSIC. MSU, the defending NCAA champion, falls to 6-5 overall, 2-1 NSIC. It's the second victory for SMSU over MSU this season after earning a non-conference victory in Marshall last month.
 
SMSU shot a blistering 57 percent in the second half and finished the game at 53 percent (31 of 59), including 5 of 15 from 3-point land.
 
Aeron Stevens (14) and Mekhi Shaw (11) both reached double figures in scoring for the Mustangs with Stevens pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. SMSU finished with a 35-34 rebound advantage and committed just 10 turnovers.
 
SMSU held a 46-28 scoring advantage in points in the paint.
 
MSU finished the night shooting 42 percent (27 of 64) from the field, while making 11 of 25 from 3-point range. Justin Eagins led the Mavericks with 20 points on 8 of 20 shooting with four 3-pointers.
 
SMSU trailed 21-19 midway through the opening half before Mekhi Shaw and Caleb Schlaak scored on a layups followed by a 3-pointer from Steven Kramer to put the Mustangs in front at 26-21 with 8:38 remaining.
 
MSU used a 7-0 run to regain the lead at 31-28 with 4:42 remaining and would later hold a 35-32 advantage with just under two minutes left before SMSU used a short spurt to build a four-point halftime lead. Dunwa Omot started the run with a layup before Braaten closed the half with a 3-pointer and layup to give the Mustangs a 39-35 halftime lead.
 
MSU rallied to open the second half and tied the game at 49 with just under 16 minutes left in the game. SMSU countered with big 11-0 run with Kramer scoring nine of the points. He started the run with a corner 3-pointer and capped the run with two free throws to give the Mustangs a 60-49 lead with 13:23 left.
 
MSU would cut the deficit to 71-65 with three and a half minutes remaining, but a big field goal by Stevens with three minutes left stopped the Mavericks' run. Braaten and Kramer would then make several clutch free throws in the final two minutes to secure SMSU's third regular season sweep of MSU in the last four seasons.  
 
SMSU concludes the weekend on Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. battle at Winona State.