ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to earn a 69-66 overtime victory over the University of Jamestown on Sunday afternoon inside the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul.
 
The non-conference game was day two of the CSP Thanksgiving Tournament.
 
SMSU, now 2-3 overall, 1-0 NSIC, returns to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Thursday night with a 5:30 p.m. road match up at Augustana University (3-3, 1-0 NSIC).
 
Micah Schlaak led the comeback victory for the Mustangs scoring 14 points with four 3-pointers, while also grabbing eight rebounds and recording two blocked shots. Aeron Stevens (13), Jakob Braaten (12), Mekhi Shaw (11) and Brayson Boike (10) all reached double figures in scoring to pace the balanced team attack.
 
SMSU shot just 36 percent (20 of 56) from the field, including 8 of 24 from 3-point range. The Mustangs held a 41-33 rebound advantage which included pulling down 18 offensive rebounds.
 
Ford Okehi led the Jimmies (2-5 overall, 0-1 NSIC) with 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting with three 3-pointers. The Jimmies closed the game shooting 44 percent (27 of 61), while making 9 of 24 3-pointers.
 
The win snapped SMSU's five-game losing streak in overtime games dating back to its last overtime win on Feb. 17, 2022, versus Wayne State.
 
Both teams suffered a tough opening 20 minutes with UJ holding a 7-2 lead in the opening five minutes after Stevens scored a field goal on the opening possession for SMSU. Shaw snaped SMSU's six-minute scoreless streak with a field goal and was followed by a free throw by Stevens and a 3-pointer by Braaten to give SMSU an 8-7 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
 
UJ quickly regained the lead and maintained the advantage the remainder of the half, holding four-point leads on three occasions before settling for a 23-21 halftime lead. SMSU shot just 28 percent in the first 20 minutes while UJ shot 32 percent.
 
SMSU's offensive struggles continued in the first 10 minutes of the second half with UJ pushing the lead to 45-35 with 10:28 left in the game before SMSU mounted its comeback.
 
Schlaak started SMSU's first big second half run with a 3-pointer midway through the half before Braaten made two free throws and Stevens scored on a layup to cut the deficit to 45-42 with eight minutes remaining.
 
Trailing 49-44 with 5:54 left, Boike converted a three-point play and was followed a possession later by a Schlaak 3-pointer to give SMSU its first lead of the second half at 50-49 with 4:56 on the clock.
 
UJ would regain the lead with 4:22 left on a field goal by Okehi, but Shaw answered with a 3-pointer with just under four minutes remaining to put SMSU in front at 53-51.
 
SMSU had three possessions to add to the lead but failed to score and UJ eventually tied the game with a layup with 1:16 left. Stevens would put SMSU back in the lead with two free throws with 51 seconds remaining, but once again UJ answered with Okehi making two free throws to tie the game with 30 seconds left.
 
SMSU had one last chance for a game-winning shot, but Mason Lund's 3-pointer was off the mark and the game moved into overtime tied at 55.
 
Shaw opened the scoring in overtime with a field goal, but UJ would tie the game at 57 with 3:30 remaining. Lund put SMSU back in front with two free throws with 3:05 left before Stevens hit the first of two free throws to give SMSU a three-point lead with 2:35 remaining. Following the miss on the second attempt, Schlaak grabbed the offensive rebound which led to a Braaten layup pushing the SMSU margin to 62-57 at the 2:20 mark.
 
Following another defensive stop by SMSU, the lead grew to 64-57 with 1:43 left after Shaw made two clutch free throws. UJ would not go away and quickly cut the SMSU lead to 64-62 less than 30 seconds later with a layup and 3-pointer.
 
Braaten missed a 3-pointer on SMSU's next possession, but once again the Mustangs had a big offensive rebound with Stevens keeping the possession alive. Lund was eventually fouled on a 3-point attempt with 23 seconds remaining. He made two of the three attempts to give SMSU a 66-62 lead.
 
Okehi scored again with 16 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 66-64, but Schlaak made two clutch free throws with seven seconds remaining to seal the victory.
 
The two teams will meet later this season during NSIC play in Jamestown, N.D.