MARSHALL, Minn. – Dunwa Omot scored 20 points, while teammate Aeron Stevens added 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season, to pace No. 24 ranked Southwest Minnesota State to an 84-72 victory over the University of Sioux Falls in NSIC men's basketball on Saturday inside the R/A Facility.
 
SMSU, which rebounded from a road loss to Augustana on Thursday night, moves its record to 10-3 overall, 5-2NSIC, while USF suffered its fourth straight loss to drop to 6-7 overall, 2-5 NSIC.

The victory was the 250th for SMSU 16th-year head coach Brad Bigler.
 
The Mustangs shot 57 percent in the second half on its way to scoring 48 points and closed the game shooting 49 percent (29 of 59) overall, including 9 of 20 from 3-point range. Jakob Braaten had a strong game for the Mustangs scoring 17 points with seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Mason Lund, held scoreless in the first half, poured in 12 points with a pair of 3-pointers and pulled down five rebounds.

Omot, who has now played in 101 career games, made 8 of 16 shots, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range. He now has amassed 1,263 career points moving into 14th place in the program career scoring list.
 
Noah Puetz scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Cougars. He finished the game making 9 of 14 from the field, including 7 of 9 from 3-point range. USF shot 45 percent (27 of 60) from the field and made 10 of 27 from 3-point land. The Cougars held a 36-31 rebound advantage with 10 offensive boards and finished the night holding a 17-4 advantage in second chance points.
 
SMSU, which committed a season-high 15 turnovers in the loss on Thursday, recorded just seven turnovers tonight and forced USF into 13 turnovers.
 
start a 12-5 Mustang run capped by two Steven Kramer free throws to make the score 21-19 with nine minutes remaining.
 
With the score tied at 23 with just over six minutes left in the half, Stevens converted a three-point play to spark a 13-2 run over a four-minute stretch to give SMSU a 36-25 advantage with two minutes on the clock. Stevens and Omot both connected on three-pointers during the run.
 
SMSU shot 42 percent in the opening 20 minutes and limited USF to 34 percent shooting. The Cougars held a 23-18 rebound advantage in the first half with six offensive rebounds, leading to nine second-chance points.
 
SMSU scored just two points in the opening three minutes of the second half, but used solid defense to maintain the lead. The Mustangs build a 10-point advantage, 44-34, with 14:40 remaining following a dunk by Omot and a layup by Stevens.
 
Puetz drilled a 3-pointer to cut SMSU's lead to 46-39 at the 13:13 mark, but SMSU answered with a big 8-0 run to extend the lead to 54-39 with 10:47 left.
 
USF made one last run, scoring seven straight points with just under five minutes remaining, to pull to within 67-62. Braaten however found his way free for a layup and Steven Kramer made one free throw to give SMSU a 70-62 lead with 3:17 remaining. Puetz would make another 3-pointer, but SMSU put the game away with back-to-back 3-pointers by Omot and Lund followed by a Braaten layup to push the score to 78-65 with 1:39 left in the game.  
 
SMSU will now have nearly two weeks off during the holiday before returning to action on Jan. 3 with a match-up at Minnesota Crookston.