MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 13/22 ranked Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team used a strong defensive effort in the second half to pull away and defeat the University of Mary 81-55 in NSIC men's basketball on Saturday afternoon.
 
The victory for the first-place Mustangs was their season-high sixth and improves their record to 15-3 overall, 10-2 NSIC. The 15-3 mark after 18 games ties the 2016-17 squad for the best in team history.
 
Jakob Braaten led SMSU with 25 points—one shy of his career-high—on 10 of 15 shooting with three 3-pointers. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, dished out four assists and added three steals. Mason Lund also had a strong game for the Mustangs tying a career-high with 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting with three 3-pointers. Aeron Stevens was the third SMSU player in double figure scoring with 11 points.
 
SMSU finished the game shooting 49 percent (28 of 57) from the field, while making 9 of 22 from 3-point range. SMSU, which held a 39-34 advantage, held a 38-22 scoring advantage in points in the paint.
 
UMary (4-17 overall, 2-10 NSIC) was limited to 27 percent shooting in the second half and closed the game shooting 36 percent (20 of 56) with nine 3-pointers in 28 attempts. Jeremiah Jones led the Marauders with 15 points, while teammate Kevin McGaskey added 13 points.
 
SMSU trailed 9-7 early in the game before a Calvin Buss tip-in a 3-pointer by Landon Pokorski gave the Mustangs a 12-9 lead. Following a field goal by UMary, Lund drilled a 3-pointer and then slammed home a dunk to extend the margin to 17-11. Braaten later made back-to-back field goals midway through the half to give SMSU a 21-14 lead.
 
SMSU would maintain a 24-17 advantage with 8:55 left in the half before UMary rallied with eight straight points to take a 25-24 lead with just over five minutes remaining. Lund answered with a 3-pointer and moments later Steven Kramer hit a jumper to put SMSU back in the lead at 29-27 with 3:30 on the clock.
 
The Marauders countered with back-to-back 3-pointers to build their largest lead of the half at 33-29 with 2:16 remaining, but the Mustangs answered with a big run to close the half and build a six-point halftime lead. Braaten started the rally with a layup before Lund and Aeron Stevens each converted three-point plays to make the score 37-33. Following a UMary free throw, Lund ended the half with a last-second 3-pointer, his third of the half, to push the lead to 40-34.
 
UMary, which entered the game averaging six 3-pointers per game, made seven in the opening 20 minutes.
 
SMSU would never trail in the second half, but UMary did pull to within 46-44 at the 14:12 mark. SMSU countered with a Pokorski 3-pointer and three-point play by Buss to make the score 52-44 with 11:44 remaining.
 
SMSU would hold a 60-51 lead with just over seven minutes remaining before a Braaten layup followed up by a Caleb Schlaak tip-in and a Stevens three-point play with six minutes on the clock pushed the lead to 67-51 and the Mustangs never looked back.
 
SMSU returns to the road next weekend taking on Bemidji State on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. and St. Cloud State next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.