SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 7 seed Winona State shot a blistering 64 percent from the field in the first half and built a 27-point second half lead before holding on and earning a 71-60 victory over No. 2 seed Southwest Minnesota State in the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball tournament inside the Sanford Pentagon.
SMSU, ranked No. 3 in this week's NCAA Central Region rankings, drops to 21-8 overall, while WSU, ranked No. 5 in the NCAA region poll, improves to 21-9. The Warriors will play in Monday night's semifinal versus either Minnesota State or St. Cloud State.
WSU led 50-23 early in the second but SMSU would not quit and pulled to within 61-53 with 3:39 left in the game. The Warriors however were able to fend off the comeback and defeat the Mustangs for the second time in three meetings this season.
SMSU was led by
Jakob Braaten's 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting with four 3-pointers. It was his sixth 20-point game of the season.
Mekhi Shaw,
Aeron Stevens and
Dunwa Omot each scored 10 points for the Mustangs.
SMSU finished the game shooting 40 percent (23 of 57) from the field, while making 10 of 30 from 3-point range. Stevens and Braaten each pulled down a team-high six rebounds. SMSU held a 32-26 rebound advantage.
Isaiah Thompson led the Warriors with 26 points on 10 of 13 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds. WSU finished the game making 27 of 48 (56 percent) from the field with nine 3-pointers.
SMSU jumped out to an early 9-4 lead in the first three minutes before WSU rallied with a 17-2 run over five and a half minutes to build a 21-11 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
Braaten scored six straight for the Mustangs to cut the deficit to 24-17, but WSU countered with a 12-2 run to build the lead to 36-19 with 4:35 remaining. WSU would continue to pour it on, forcing SMSU into 12 turnovers, while shooting 64 percent, taking a 42-23 lead into halftime.
WSU continued its torrid play to open the second half scoring the first eight points to expand the margin to 50-23. SMSU stopped the spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers from Lund and Braaten.
Trailing 61-43 with seven minutes remaining, Braaten started a 10-0 run with a layup and was followed by a layup from Omot and back-to-back 3-pointers from Stevens and Shaw to trim the deficit to 61-53 at the 3:39 mark.
The Warriors stayed strong and made enough plays in the final three minutes to seal the victory.
