BISMARCK, N.D. – Dunwa Omot poured in a season-high 27 points with five 3-pointers to pace the Southwest Minnesota State men's basketball team to a key 70-62 road victory over the University of Mary on Friday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action.
 
The victory pushes SMSU's record to 20-7 overall and keeps the team in a three-way tie atop the NSIC standings with Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State at 15-6 with one game remaining. SMSU will look to secure a share of the program's first NSIC regular season championship since 2009 and third all-time on Saturday with a 4 p.m. match-up at Northern State.
 
The win total is the seventh time in team history a team has reached 20 victories and the first since 2017-18.
 
Omot's point total on Friday moved him into sole possession of 10^th in the program's all-time scoring list. He now has amassed 1,386 points, moving past Matt Fletcher's (2004-08) 1,375 points.
 
Jakob Braaten and Steven Kramer both score 11 points to help the Mustang cause, while Braaten and Aeron Stevens both pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
 
SMSU shot 49 percent (26 of 53) from the field, while making 9 of 25 from 3-point range. The Mustangs finished with a 33-30 rebound advantage and forced the Marauders into 17 turnovers leading to 29 points.
 
UMary (5-25, 3-18 NSIC) shot 45 percent (26 of 58) from the field and had three players score 14 points. Wylee Delorme scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
 
SMSU opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers by Omot and Mason Lund to build an early 6-0 lead before UMary rallied and build a 13-11 advantage with 13:44 remaining in the first half.
 
Omot connected on a pair of 3-pointers to put the Mustangs back in the lead while Stevens and Braaten would later add two field goals to give SMSU a 21-16 lead midway through the half.
 
SMSU holding a three-point cushion, field goals by Braaten, Omot and Kramer extended the Mustang margin to 27-18 at the seven-minute mark.
 
UMary, which made seven 3-pointers in the opening half, cut the deficit to 32-26, before Omot made back-to-back field goals to give the Mustangs another double-digit lead at 36-26 with 2:43 remaining.
 
Omot would hit his first 3-pointer of the half to give SMSU a 39-31 lead before UMary closed the half with four straight points to trim the deficit to 39-35 at halftime.
 
UMary would use a 7-0 run early in the second half to regain the lead at 49-47 with 14 minutes left, but a Stevens layup sparked a quick 8-2 spurt by the Mustangs to go back in front at 55-51 following a Mekhi Shaw jumper at the 11:45 mark.
 
SMSU maintained a 58-56 advantage with eight minutes left before Kramer hit back-to-back field goals and was followed by a Stevens field goal to give the Mustangs a 64-56 lead with just under five minutes remaining.
 
Braaten would later make two free throws before drilling a tough 3-pointer with the shot clock near zero with 1:45 left to push the lead to 69-58 and help seal the win.
 
SMSU will be playing Northern State for the second time this season with the Mustangs winning, 79-60, in Marshall on Jan. 17.