CROO?KSTON, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State University men's basketball team earned a 70-44 victory over the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles in NSIC action on Friday night inside Lysaker Gymnasium.
The Golden Eagles' 44 points is the fewest number of points allowed by SMSU since Jan. 3, 2014, when SMSU defeated Northern State 77-43.
SMSU (11-3, 6-2 NSIC) finished the night shooting 27 of 52 (52 percent) from the field including 53 percent (9 of 17) from downtown.
UMC, which drops to 3-9 on the year and 2-4 in conference play, closed the day shooting 31 percent (18 of 59) from the field including shooting 4 of 27 (15 percent) from three.
Mason Lund led the Mustang offense with a game-high 14 points on 63 percent shooting from the field including 67 percent from downtown and grabbed two rebounds.
Aeron Stevens recorded 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Jakob Braaten ended the night with 11 points on 100 percent shooting from the field and from beyond the arc.
Steven Kramer finished with 10 points and a career-high five assists. Mehki Shaw recorded a career-high six steals.
The first half saw both teams trading off 17 points during the first six minutes with UMC holding a 9-8 lead. SMSU would then hold UMC scoreless for a little over two and a half minutes to take the lead 19-9 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The two teams split the next 14 points, but the Mustangs still held their 10-point margin. Crookston closed out the half with a 6-0 run to make the score 30-22 going into halftime.
SMSU would come out strong in the second half going on a 9-2 run to extend its lead to 39-24. The Golden Eagles would cut the deficit to 12 points before the Mustangs cashed in a pair of layups and two 3-pointers to extend the margin to 22 points.
SMSU would stay hot, increasing its lead to as many as 26 points to dwindle any chance for UMC to come back.
SMSU will be back in action at home against MSU Moorhead on Friday, Jan. 10, with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.
