MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team earned its second straight victory on Monday afternoon defeating North Central University, 104-68, in non-conference action inside the R/A Facility.
 
The game started at 11 a.m. and was part of 'Elementary and Community Day' with more than 1,000 area elementary students in attendance.
 
SMSU senior Jakob Braaten dished out a school single-game record 17 assists to help the Mustangs shoot 54 percent from the field (39 of 72), including drilling a season-high 15 3-pointers. The previous record of 15 assists was held by Marques Pena, set during the 2000-01 season.
 
SMSU (4-4) used a balanced scoring attack with seven players scoring nine or more points. Aeron Stevens made 6 of 9 shots to finish with a team-high 15 points, while Micah Schlaak, Mason Lund and Mekhi Shaw all scored 14 points. Brayson Boike also reached double figures with 11 points, while Isaiah Schafer and Braaten each chipped in with nine points.
 
SMSU closed with a 46-34 rebound advantage with Boike pulling down a game-high eight rebounds. The Mustangs finished the game with a season-high 25 assists.
 
Lund closed with a game-high four 3-pointers with Schlaak and Schafer each connecting on three 3-pointers.
 
NCU, which entered the game 2-7, remained so with the game serving as an exhibition for the Rams. NCU was selected as the preseason favorite in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference after winning the regular season title last season. Carrington McNeal led the Rams with 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting with four steals, four assists and four rebounds.
 
NCU shot 38 percent (26 of 68) from the field, including 10 of 33 from 3-point range.
 
SMSU, which never trailed in the game, scored the first nine points with Schlaak hitting a pair of 3-pointers and Braaten making two field goals two and a half minutes into the game. The lead would expand to 31-16 with 8:27 left in the half following back-to-back 3-pointers from Braaten and Schlaak.
 
NCU trimmed the deficit to 31-24 at the 6:41 mark, but SMSU answered with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes, with four points each by Stevens and Shaw, to push the lead to 42-24. Following a field goal by the Rams, the Mustangs closed the half on a 9-2 spurt to build a 51-28 halftime advantage and never looked back to move their record to .500 on the season.
 
SMSU had 13 different players score in the game, including Luke Stevens, who finished with two points and two rebounds in his first collegiate game.
 
SMSU returns to conference play this weekend with a pair of road games. The Mustangs first take on Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday with game time set for 5 p.m. before taking on Winona State on Sunday with tip-off slated for 2 p.m.